The Sound of Her Voice
by Sarah Haywood
Summary: When Inuyasha, the deaf son of a multimillionare, finds an ad for a clinic that will cure his deafness, he meets the mute daughter of his doctor, Kagome. [Inukag]
1. Bad Hearing, Bad Cooking and Bad Grades

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha, but I am on a dangerous mission to steal him.

This is my first Inuyasha fic. I know everyone hates these little messages, but if you read this, could you please review? I know I ignore these pleas for feedback when I read and usually just go to the next chapter, but I'll try to review at least one story of yours if you review me. There! See! I bribed you! Yay bribes!

_"The Sound of Her Voice"_

**Chapter 1:** Bad Hearing, Bad Cooking, and Bad Grades.

_

* * *

_  
I sit on my bed, reading a Sci-Fi novel. It isn't a good book, about a war going on with aliens in space. For some reason, to me it seems like I'm reading a school textbook. A very violent textbook. 

**"The Zorglx took his ray-gun and shot a burst of red light into Captain Chiffron's head. James could smell his brains frying in his skull. The old Captain slumped onto the floor, his melted brain pouring like wax from his ears."**

I chuck the book across the room. I know I'm not in the mood for it.

I feel the bang, bang, bang of the cook calling me for dinner by hitting my ceiling with her broom. She has to; I won't be able to hear it otherwise. I haven't been able to hear a thing since I was born. It's always been like that. I'm relieved to go downstairs; there is nothing to do in my room.

I leave my room and run along the red carpeted corridor to the spiral staircase that leads into the great hall. Somehow, I manage to run head first into my pigheaded brother, Sesshoumaru.

He shouts something rude and walks coolly into the dining room. I flip him off and follow him into the dining room, rubbing a bruise on my head from crashing into my arrogant older sibling.

Kaede, our nanny, says something to Sesshomaru as the cook heaps some disgusting concoction into my bowl.

_"I'm not eating this!"_ I sign, hoping that she'll be able to understand.

The cook, Ayumi, says something to Kaede, looking extremely confused. She's hopeless at sign language, even though she's been working in our house for nearly two years. I put on a look of annoyance and repeat my simple sentence very slowly.

_"I... won't... eat... this..." _I say, moving my hands at a pace similar to a snail's.

She looks puzzled. After two bloody years all she can manage to sign are a few stupid sentences.

I pick up the bowl and very slowly, looking at her the whole time, dump the contents into the sink and turn on the garbage disposal. I then take a packet of ramen out of the cupboard and hand it to her.

She has an expression of tearful comprehension on her stupid face. Sesshomaru is doubled over with laughter. Dickhead. He understood what I said from the first and could just have translated.

When the noodles are ready, I take the bowl upstairs to my old playroom where I turn on the video games. I settle down for a couple hours of animated adventures. Sesshomaru sneaks up behind me, or at least he tries to. I can smell him and feel his footfalls on the carpeted floor. Not looking away from "Rayman 2", I give him the finger. That's my typical greeting for my older brother.

_"Inuyasha, you're a jackass."_ He walks in front of the TV so I can see him talk to me.

_"What!" _

_"Kaede is so pissed off at you right now."_

_"Whatever."_

_"You won't be saying that when she has her little politeness rant at you."_

_"I think I'm going to bed..."_ I get up. Kaede's politeness rants are a thing to be feared.

_"Come on, Inu, you know she won't believe that. It's only..."_ he looks at his watch with his hands poised for his next word. _"9:30. You know yourself... you never go to sleep until at least 11."  
_  
I ignore his warning and walk to my bedroom.

Shit.

Kaede is waiting for me.

I put my open palm to the upper right part of my forehead and move it downwards in a wave, signing a nervous hello.

_"Inuyasha..."_ she signs with an extremely dangerous look on her grizzled face. _"Why did you do that to Ayumi?" _

_"She can't understand anything I say. I told her I didn't want her... food." _I shudder at the mention of the blasphemous concoction,_ "She needed a demonstration." _

_"That's no reason to be rude."_

_"I wasn't." _I say, untruthfully._ "She just doesn't understand." _

_"Just try, alright?" _She asks, exasperatedly.

I nod and enter my room again. I pick up the idiotic sci-fi book again and struggle through a few more chapters, then fall asleep with my clothes on.

* * *

_"No, Inuyasha!"_ Myoga signs angrily _"Romeo didn't fall in love with Julianne, he fell in love with Juliet!"  
_  
I flip my hair and work on my pre-calculus sheet as my private tutor finishes reading my Romeo and Juli-whatever essay. 

Myoga has been my tutor since I was six. He knows my mannerisms and pet- peeves to perfection. He helped to "tame" me when I was a small child.

When I was very little, I didn't understand anything anyone said. I still can't, but I didn't know sign language then because no one had bothered to teach me. My mother was too busy with her high paying job in the stock market to bother teaching her three year old sign language, and what with father being a politician they both gave me the run of the house. Sesshomaru was in an extremely expensive boarding school for rich boys aged 7-17 with parents too busy to look after them. I had an inexperienced babysitter who ignored me.

I did what I wanted.

When I scribbled with crayons all over my father's Renoir, they had had enough. Out went the babysitter, in came Kaede.

Well, my reign of terror ended. Permanently.

Myoga slaps the essay onto my desk, making me jump. "Are you done yet, Inuyasha?" He asks impatiently.

I nod; I'm as done as I can be.

_"What's my grade for the essay?"_ I ask.

He lifts one finger. The fourth letter in the sign alphabet

_"A 'D'!" _

_"Answer me truthfully, Inuyasha, did you actually READ the book!"_

_"Maybe."_

_"Well then!"_ Exasperation fills his eyes. Myoga is very small, very round, and has a nose too long for his face_. "I'm surprised you managed to get a D." _

"I read the summary." I sign with a smug smile.

_"You're hopeless." _

I put the tips of my fingers on my lips and bring my opened palm straight down. _"Thank you." _

"Go away." Myoga says_. "You're too annoying to deal with right now."_

_"Fine."_ I get up and leave.

I walk to the kitchen and sit on the stone island in the centre of the room. I notice a newspaper sitting idly, waiting for my father or Sesshomaru to read it.

Newspapers are dull, but sitting on a table with nothing to do is duller.

I flip through it, looking for comics or something. What I get are advertisements.

**"Buy Hojo's hair tonic!"**

**"Diamonds are a girl's best friend... So get one for your girl!"**

**"We have hundreds of mattresses for you to choose from at Tsatsuki's discount furniture!"**

**"Angelic Layer! It's the new thing in Tokyo! Call Misaki Suzahara for details!"**

**"You can get gently used and new cars at Tamayo's Car dealership!"**

**"There are hundreds of new treatment options for the deaf and hearing impaired. Visit The Shikon Centre for the Deaf at 163 Shrine lane."**

**"Injured? Abused? Molested? Call Sango..."**

WHAT!

I read the Shrine Center advertisement again. **"Hundreds of new treatment options..."**

What if...

No. It's impossible. When I was found to be deaf, I was sent to many specialists, and they all agreed I was incurable...

Still... that was fifteen years ago.

Maybe... Maybe if there is a chance...

I run upstairs to find Myoga.


	2. Appointments, Implants, and Naughty Litt...

Hello! 

I was amazed by my reviews! I love you guys!

Perhaps I'd better explain. All my other stories are about Robin Hood. My longest story has nine chapters and about 40 reviews...

sigh-

Anyway, all of your reviews gave me lots of motivation to write more! (I write on my bus ride from school so I get a lot done.)

But on Sunday I was so happy to see all the nice comments you gave me. I love feedback! See how happy you all have made me! Yay!

Without further ado,

_The Sound of Her Voice_,

**Chapter 2: **Appointments, Implants, and Naughty Little Brothers

* * *

I walk into the white examining room hesitantly, wondering why I had Myoga schedule an appointment. He and Kaede are sitting in the waiting room looking at magazines while I get to have a test to see what 'treatment' would do best for me. I'm beginning to doubt the decision to come here in the first place. Surely my condition is fine, annoying, but livable. 

A lot more people would understand me if I could talk.

Who needs that anyway? I don't need people like Ayumi to talk to.

Well... it would improve my social situation...

Who needs friends!

They're better than Sesshomaru.

My musings areinterrupted by the door opening. I see a motherly looking woman in the stereotypical white coat of a doctor.

_"So you are... Inuyasha."_ She signs, holding onto a clipboard with one hand.

_"Dr. Hiragashi?"_ I ask.

She nods. _"And how old are you?"_ she asks, a well-meaning smile on her face.

_"Fifteen."_

_"Really? That's the same age as my two girls."_

I raise my eyebrows in a question.

_"They're twins, you see."_ She smiles again, _"Kikyo and Kagome."  
_  
I nod, hoping she will stop talking about her family life and start talking about whether or not I will be able to hear.

But no... The gods are against me.

_"Kikyo is the oldest, by fifty minutes. She likes school quite a bit. Do you like school? Do you even go to school?"  
_  
Does she ever shut up?

_"Now Kagome has always been a little bit of a problem child..." _

Will I be forced to hear about her silly daughters all afternoon?

_"She has not spoken ever since this car accident where she was..."  
_  
_"Dr. Hiragashi?"_ I butt in, hoping I'm not seeming rude, _"what can you do about my... condition?" _

_"Oh!"_ Dr. Hiragashi says, _"I'm sorry. You'll have to excuse me. I shall get right back on track." _She examines me first. _"Do you have any diseases?" _

_"No."_

_"Any liver conditions?"_

_"No."_

_"Heart conditions?"_

_"No."_

_"So you're perfectly normal, other than the fact that you're deaf?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Ok..."_

She tests me for a while and I go along with it. While she pokes and prods, she tells me of her twins, Kagome and Kikyo, as well as her nine year old son, Souta.

I vow never to meet her children.

_"Can you hear this, Inuyasha?"_ she asks, fiddling with a contraption.

_"No." _

_"This?"_

_"No."_

_"This?"_

_"No."_

_"This? This? This?"_

_"No."_

_"This?"_

A very faint, very high pitched noise fills my useless ears.

I nod excitedly.

She flips through her clipboard. _"It seems you have..."_ she checks her notes, _"About 2 percent normal hearing." _

_"Really?" _That's worse than I though. I had always thought it was 3.

_"Yes... now let's see..." _

The door of the clinic bursts open, revealing two teenaged girls holding a struggling kid by the scruff of the neck.

One of the girls starts moving her mouth in speech, the other signs wildly. They both look extremely angry. Judging from what I can make out of the second girl's signing, the little boy had stolen their both diaries and posted them on the internet.

Dr. Hiragashi looks as though she is about to burst out laughing, but she attempts a frown and says something severe to the boy, who I assume to be Souta.

I stifle a snigger, and the girl who can sign gives me a severe look. I roll my eyes at her, and she looks insulted.

_"Inuyasha,"_ Dr. Hiragashi signs, _"These are my children, Souta,"_ she gestures to the boy _"Kikyo,"_ she points to the girl who can speak, _"and Kagome."_ She places a hand on Kagome's shoulder.

The children who, I assume, can hear, sign 'hello' rather clumsily. Kagome signs expertly, and adds, _"You wouldn't find it funny either if it was your diary." _

_"I don't have a diary." _I grin, knowing it will be extremely annoying.

_"Well, you're missing a lot." _

_"Whatever."_

_"Now, where was I?" s_igns Dr. Hiragashi.

_"What you could do for me to fix my deafness."_ I remind her.

_"Oh."_ She flips through her brochures.

_"How deaf are you?"_ asks Kagome, with quite a bit of interest on her face.

_"None of your business."_ I tell her.

_"So let's see, Inuyasha, you have... 2 percent of normal hearing, which makes you... profoundly deaf."_ Dr. Hiragashi signs, informing Kagome of my situation, to my annoyance. _"Have you ever worn hearing aids?"_ asks Kagome's mother.

_"I think I might have when I was little, but they never worked." _

_"Well, it seems your best option would be a cochlear implant."_

_"A what?"_

_"It's a machine inserted into your head that goes directly into your inner ear cavity. There's a transmitter that's attached to your head that sends the machine the sound."_

_"So I will be able to hear?"_

She nods.

_"It won't be easy. You'll have to go through surgery, and then you'll actually have to learn the hearing language itself." _

_"Can I talk to my family about it? I was only coming here for a consultation."_

_"Of course." _She smiles and hands me two business cards. _"Here is my card. This one is of the doctor who will actually perform the operation." _

I look at the second card. **'Houshi Miroku, auditory doctor.'** _"Thank you." _I say to Dr. Hiragashi, ignoring her daughter, who is scowling at me.

_"You're welcome. Have your parents call me if they have any questions."  
_  
_"Actually, if you want to talk to my people, you might want to talk to Myoga and Kaede outside." _

_"Right,"_ affirms the doctor, who promptly exits the examining room to talk to my nurse and tutor.

_"Your people!"_ repeats Kagome as soon as her mother has left the room.

Her sister and brother look at her strangely then say something to her as they leave the room from a different door.

_"They aren't my parents, what else am I supposed to call them?"_ I sign, ignoring them.

_"Their names?" _

_"Hey, I employ them!"_

She shakes her head in exasperation.

_"Why are you lecturing me? You've only just met me!"_ I ask, annoyed.

_"You just seem the annoying type, that's all."_ She flips her hair and leaves the room, rejoining her siblings.

* * *

'Girls,' I think as I get in the hired car my father sent to drive me about. 

_"So, how was the appointment, Inuyasha?"_ Myoga asks me, regarding my contemplative frame of mind.

_"Alright."_ I sign, _"Busy. I'm tired and hungry. Can we get some ramen or something?"_

_"Fine."_ Kaede signs back, _"Your doctor told me about the cochlear implant, do you think you will do it?' _

"Maybe," I reply, and spend the rest of the ride looking out the window, thinking.


	3. Irratating Arguments

Hi guys! 

I have exams soon, so I won't update for a while, and sorry if this is short, I wanted to update before I became way too swamped to do anything.

Responses to Reviews!

**KharmaSmack**: What's TDD? I learned all the sign language in this fic from going to an online sign language dictionary, so I'm kinda ignorant. I'm hoping to take private lessons in ASL in the summer though.

**Samurai Katagi**: Great idea! I already have an evil fluffy plan though... you should write that, I would like to see that happen!

**Sakuli**: Yep, cochlear implants exist. One of my best friends has one. She taught me how to swear in ASL! Boy oh boy is that fun! Almost as fun as swearing in French!

Heh. My mouth could be cleaner, but it's not too bad. I swear more in other languages than in English.

Ok, that's enough responses!

Please review when you read this. It makes me feel all happy inside when I read that I've gotten reviews!

* * *

I knock on the door to my parent's room, awaiting their decision on whether or not I'm to have the operation. I fidget in the marble hall, I am impatient. The decision is up to mom and dad, even if I barely see them and they don't really know me. You see, they still see me as the little frustrated two-year-old who scribbled all over daddy's piece of priceless art. 

Mother opens the door. She fumbles about with her hands and fingerspells a _'h-e-l-l-o d-e-a-r.'_

Finger spelling is all mother can do. She keeps adding 'A's and 'H's here and there in her sentences.

Sign language is a challenge for my parents. Father can't do it at all and has to have mother fingerspell it all out, or have Kaede come in and do it properly. Mother can fingerspell, and sometimes give me looks that I understand to be 'shut up' and 'come here.'

Mother takes my hand and leads me into the room, sitting me on their enormous couch near the centre of the room.

_"D-a-r-i-n-g, w-e'v-e d-e-e-n t-h-i-n-k-i-n-g a-b-o-u-t y-o-u-r i-d-e-a, a-n-d... w-e d-o-n't r-e-a-l-l-y k-n-o-w w-h-a-t t-o s-a-y." _I notice that she misspelled 'darling' and 'been.' Finger spelling is hard for beginners.

_"a-n-d..."_ I ask, awaiting her reply.

_"W-e-l-l, w-e d-o-n't r-e-a-l-l-y k-n-o-w... d-o-n't r-e-a-l-l-y k-n-o-w w-h-a-t t-h-e o-p-e-r-a-t-i-o-n i-s, I-n-u-y-a-s-h-a. W-e d-o-n't k-n-o-w h-o-w i-t w-o-r-k-s, w-e d-o-n't k-n-o-w w-h-a-t t-h-e r-i-s-k-s a-r-e... w-e d-o-n't k-n-ow..." _

_"K-a-e-d-e a-n-d M-y-o-g-a t-o-l-d y-o-u! I-f y-o-u'r-e n-o-t s-u-r-e, j-u-s-t d-o s-o-m-e r-e-s-e-a-r-c-h!"_

_"N-o-w I-n-u-y-a-s-h-a, m-o-m-m-y a-n-d d-a-d-d-y a-r-e v-e-r-y b-u-s-y w-i-t-h w-o-r-k r-i-g-h-t n-o-w, y-o-u k-n-o-w w-e d-o-n't h-a-v-e t-i-m-e t-o..."_

_"Y-o-u h-a-v-e t-i-m-e f-o-r S-e-s-s-h-o-m-a-r-u!"_

_"N-o-w I-n-u-y-a-s-h-a, y-o-u k-n-o-w t-h-a-t's n-o-t f-a-i-r t-o m-e o-r d-a-d-d-y!"_

I feel a wave of pent up anger hit me, anger I've been holding back since I ever learned I was different from other kids.

_"You think that just because I'm deaf means I'm retarded too!"_ I sign, not bothering to fingerspell, "_You and 'daddy' never have had time for me. Heck, you've never even bothered to learn the language I frickking use!" _

_"I-n-u-y-a-s-h-a, h-o-n-e-y, s-l-o-w d-o-w-n, I c-a-n't u-n-d-e-r-t-a-n-d y-o-u!"_

She misspelled understand

_"You see my point! Inuyasha, honey slow down, I can't 'u-n-d-e-r-t-a-n-d' you_," I swallow and get ready for the killing blow. _"Well, if you can't 'u-n-d-e-r-t-a-n-d' me, you can go to hell, because you obviously don't care about me at all!" _

I turn on my heel, slamming the door as hard as I can. I've never really gotten why slamming doors bothers everyone so much, but whenever someone slams the door everyone flinches... it must be a hearing thing.

I take the elevator down to the second floor, where my room is, (my parents are on the fifth) still fuming.

My parents always have time for Sessho-maru. They went to his high school graduation on the other side of Japan, they would take him to the theatre when he came home for holidays. Now that he goes to a nearby college, mother and father let him have parties so wild that I can feel the pulse of the music blaring from the ballroom downstairs.

I enter my room and flop on my bed. It's the smallest room in the house, only the size of a normal living room, and it makes mother, or 'mommy' as she calls herself, feel claustrophobic. I get my laptop out and surf the net for information on cochlear implants.

I look at the stories of grinning teens who al have benefited from cochlear implants and almost throw the computer across the room... I'm so freaking close to being able to hear that I can almost touch it.

Why do parent have to be so stupid?

Kaede opens my door. I feel the vibrations of her footfalls on the carpeted floor. I don't bother to look at her; I wait for her to walk in front of me.

_"Inu?"_ Kaede looks apprehensive, _"Can we talk?"  
_  
I shake my head no.

_"I think we need to, Inuyasha. Your mother said you were very upset." _

_"What does she know?"_

_"Did you have an argument?"_

_"Even if we did, she wouldn't understand it, would she?"_

_"I see what it's all about now..." _she sits next to me on the bed_, "She tries, you know..."_

I turn my head away. I don't want to know what she's saying.

Kaede touches my shoulder. I look at her unwillingly.

_"I have a compromise. How about you invite the doctor and her family for dinner here? That way, your parents will understand what will happen before their decision." _

I nod, and Kaede gives me an odd little pat on the head and leaves my room for her apartment. I lie on my stomach and surf the web for a while, eventually playing a rather addicting game of 'snake,' which I waste my time at for about an hour, before I fall asleep as the electric clock on my bedside table says 11:30.


	4. Dinner pt I

Hi! I'm finishing this at 1:53 in the morning! Exams are OVERRRRR!  
  
And, surprisingly, I didn't bomb any of 'em...  
  
Mostly because my parents banned me from Fanfiction for two weeks...   
  
But the 4th chapter is done. And I've decided, since you guys have been waiting for two weeks for this chapter, I'll just post it in two parts. I'll have the next chapter up within three days, I promise!  
  
And to the two of you reading Mara and Robin also, I'm halfway finished with that beast of a next chapter.  
  
Whoever says Robin Hood fanfiction is bad, you're meeeean. Because it's awesome once you kill all the stories with Mary-Sues... boo!   
  
Sorry... I'm rambling. It's 2:00 now. I'm allowed not to have a focused train of thought.... Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (which I saw tonight) is distracting me.  
  
ANYWAYS:

**Inu-Youkai 911**: I checked my reivews, but you didn't ask me any questions... but i'm glad you like it!

**Sakuli:** I can say "F you, you ugly b whore-monkey." in ASL. It amuses me. I call me friends that a lot... for fun.SEE WHAT EXAMS DO TO ME?!

**KharmaSmack:** Thankie kindly for the info. And feel free to tell me if i screwed anything up in this fic... because I hate inacurate fics, and therefore I would be a hippocrate if I did... which is BAD.

* * *

The doctor and her family get out of their car and walk to the door, pressing the little button next to the entrance to our house.  
  
I don't get how the thing on the door works, yet somehow, whenever anyone presses the little thing, everyone jumps to attention and runs to open the door. I guess it's just another phenomenon of the hearing world that I don't understand.  
  
I watch the twin girls rub their hands against the cold. It's already March, but the weather is still chilly, and the girls are only wearing thin fleeces. I'm sitting on the window seat of the west tower room, where my old playroom used to be.  
  
No one uses this room anymore. It's not in very good condition, as it was my playroom.  
  
I have bad memories here.  
  
This was my punishment room.  
  
I sit crossed legged on the floor, even though I should be attending to my guests. I reach over to the bookshelf of the circular room.  
  
I find a copy of **The Adventures of Robin Hood** that was mine when I was about seven, and I skim through the pages, looking for the excitement I used to feel when I first read this.  
  
**"Robin Hood is a good archer. He shoots arrows with his bow. He can hunt deer with his bow and arrow. But in England, it is bad to hunt deer. Robin Hood wants to eat. He shoots a deer. The Sheriff is mad. He does not like it when Robin Hood shoots deer. He makes Robin Hood an outlaw. Robin Hood is sad. He is sad because he can not marry Maid Marian..."  
**  
How could I ever have enjoyed that?! I flip to the next page.  
  
**"Robin Hood..."** a black pen has eradicated all the other text. The next page is ripped out.  
  
Ah... My angry phase.  
  
When I was thirteen I was not happy with anyone who could hear. Or anything at all for that matter....  
  
I went up here and found all the books I could that mentioned sound, and destroyed all of them.  
  
I feel the floor vibrate underneath me... Kaede wants me downstairs, presumably to meet the guests. I push out my breath very hard, a thing that is called sighing by the hearing population. These things confuse me. I 'sigh' to show exasperation and excitement, yet how can the people tell if I am exasperated or excited? Kaede says you can hear a sigh, but I don't know what a sigh sounds like, nor do I know what a bubbling brook in springtime sounds like, nor birds chirping in the morning. The only thing I know is the faint, high pitched ringing sound that I only hear when doctors are testing my screwed hearing.  
  
I get up and kick the already-ruined copy of Robin Hood across the room.

* * *

_"Hello."_ signs a twin.  
  
_"Hello."_ signs the other twin.  
  
_"Hello."_ signs Souta.  
  
I raise my eyebrow sarcastically. I flick my hand down from my forehead, _"Hello."_ I reply to the siblings. I sit at the table, noticing how out of place I am.  
  
Everyone in the Hirgurashi family is dressed up, like they were going to the opera or something. I shudder in memory of an opera I was dragged to last Christmas... so...dull... I can't fathom why Sessho-maru and my parents would want to watch fat women in Viking suits open their mouths for hours at a time, even if they can hear the music.  
  
My parents are still in their work clothes, having (miracle of miracles) come home early to me my prospective doctor.  
  
Even Sessho-maru wears a dress shirt.  
  
I on the other hand, haven't changed out of my red houri-style pajamas.  
  
I resist the urge to sigh again. I was the one who pushed for this meeting... so, of course, I give the worst impression. Gods, I'm stupid.  
  
Mother talks to Dr. Hirgurashi, while I sniff the air... Escargots and caviar are for the appetizer again, with the entrée being chicken cordon-bleu. My parents are going through a European phase. Sometimes I want to go to a plain old sushi bar and order everything in the restaurant, I'm so sick of foreign food.  
  
One of the twins taps me on the shoulder. _"I'm Kikyo."_  
  
_"Inuyasha."_ I reply, dipping my finger in my drink with my hand that's not occupied in finger spelling. I taste it. Blegh. Chocolate milk. If there's one food I can't stand, it's chocolate. Father always said we had demon blood from his side of the family... perhaps it is dog. Dogs can't eat chocolate.  
  
_"So, is this all yours?"_ she asks, glancing around the hall. I nod, and attempt to flag down the waiter, who is currently occupied in buttering up mother, presumably for tips.  
  
_"Wow."_ She signs, looking at me like I'm already a bag of money ready for her collection.  
  
I smile and nod; hoping she'll stop and go bother her twin or something. The waiter arrives, looking annoyed. Apparently mother has been cheap tonight.  
  
**'Seltzer-water. No chocolate milk.'** I write on my napkin in my felt-tip pen. Too bad it's a cloth napkin.  
  
Kikyo leans over me suggestively, trying to read what I've written on the napkin. I hand it to her to stop her breasts from falling out of her strapless dress as she leans over me. She reads it and takes a fluffy pink gel pen from her purse and writes on the napkin, **'Ur cute!'  
**  
I 'accidentally' drop the napkin onto the floor.  
  
She retrieves the napkin and hands it to me.  
  
She just can't take a hint, can she?  
  
Time for the ultimate turn-off... I take the napkin and write, '**Yes, I know, you don't need to tell me.'** I hand it to the expectant teenager.  
  
Her eyes widen as she reads it. She then quickly excuses herself from the table, closely followed by her twin.  
  
All in a days work. Gods, I'm evil. 


	5. Dinner pt II

__  
  
Hi!  
  
hides from flying rotten vegetables, fruits, rocks, etc. thrown by angry reviewers  
  
Alright!!! I'm sorry I didn't update in three days... I'm sorry! I just had things to do... like write a Robin Hood parody... SORRY. This little jerk of a chapter was giving me the worst writers block.  
  
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me.  
  
Anyways, this one was comparatively long...  
  
Question Time!  
  
Samurai Katagi: No way am I gonna fall in that hole. Though there is no love lost between Kikyo and I, it would be ridiculous to overbash her. I shall keep the quality of this story up by just being a little mean...   
  
ACDCchicky: Whoa. You must be wicked good at sign language if so many people around you speak it. If I screw up tell me. (I most likely will, don't worry.) And I'll make sure not to get Beer and 'Drink' messed up. But seeing as I've only been studying it for a month or so, I don't think it will pose a problem for a while.   
  
remix-69er: Kagome can't talk, but she can sign really well. And erm... I dunno how long it will take of them to develop a relation ship. You see, I write my stories out on the fly without an outline. It's all in my psychopathic little head, because if I were to make an outline, I would probably get really bored with it and discontinue it for a while... and I don't want that!!

* * *

When Kikyo returns to the table, she sits in the place her twin sister, Kagome was eating.  
  
Great. I have to deal with another annoying whore.  
  
But much to my surprise, the signing twin doesn't pay the slightest bit of attention to me. I don't mind. I can figure out what my parents are talking about.  
  
Such a pity I have no idea how one goes about lipreading.  
  
I sigh and lean back in my chair, drumming my fingers on the table top. I've always loved doing this, the interesting vibrations it makes on the counter, and the looks of irritation I always get from my father all make finger tapping a worthy pastime.  
  
Kagome looks over disdainfully at me. I wink at her and drum harder.  
  
She sits very still and erect until something seems to snap in her. Quick as a wink, her hand shoots over to mine and stops the drumming.  
  
She's touching me...  
  
She's touching _**me.**_  
  
Well, that's rather unexpected.  
  
I notice how much more attractive she is compared to her twin sister. She wears a pretty red kimono with her long dark hair piled expertly atop her head. Around her neck is a black velvet choker with a beaded pattern upon it, made to look like a water lily. She looks very pretty.  
  
Embarrassed, she removes her pale hand from mine. _"Sorry."_ She signs, her face going rather red, _"I can't stand that noise."_  
  
"Noise?" I ask, confused.  
  
_"I'm not deaf, Inuyasha, just mute."  
  
"Really?"_ I ask, then decide to drop it. She probably doesn't want to talk about it "_That's interesting."_ I continue lamely, as the dinner finally arrives. Damn foreign food.  
  
I struggle through two abominable courses before I give up and sit back in my chair again, remembering not to drum my fingers against the table.  
  
Sessho-maru catches my attention by throwing a pea across the table. He brings his hand up to his forehead, gripping an imaginary cap, and then brings his fingers together in a word meaning 'brother'.  
  
_"Yes?"_  
  
_"Take the twins on a tour of the house. They've been finished for a while."_  
  
I shake my head no. Who is Sessho-maru to be giving me advice?  
  
_"Do it NOW."  
  
_I notice he has been sitting next to Kikyo.  
  
_"Fine, bastard."_ I decide to humor him. He sometimes has pretty good influence over my parents.  
  
_"Just get this whore away."_ He signs, looking disgusted at the sight of Kikyo.  
  
I roll my eyes. My older brother isn't the best signer; though he's far better than my parents... he studied ASL in his first two years in college so his comes jerkily and broken up, like most second languages. But he's very good at insults. "Whore, F---, B----, Bastard..." he can sign like a natural when he's using those words.  
  
I ask Kaede if I can take the Higurashi girls on a tour of the house.  
  
_"You would do that, Inuyasha?"_ asks Dr. Higurashi, her eyes shining.  
  
_"That's so nice."_ Says Kaede, looking suspicious, _"What do you want, child?"  
  
"Nothing,"_ I lie, _"I just thought they would like to see the house."  
  
_Myoga says something skeptical to Kaede, then signs to me, _"Is it empathy I am sensing in young master Inuyasha?!"_  
  
I roll my eyes, and nod. _"I'm being polite. Is that so rare?"  
  
"Yes."_  
  
"Shut up." I sign, _"Tell them I'll take them on a tour before I have you fired."  
_  
Knowing I wouldn't fire him for his life, Myoga informs the girls of my plan.  
  
Kagome gets up with grace, and moves an outstretched palm down from her lips. _"Thank you."_ Kikyo does the same, but with less perfection, and they both follow me through the doors of the dining hall. We walk to the grand staircase, and Kikyo and Kagome both look amazed at the size of the thing. I smile awkwardly, attempting to look humble.  
  
_"Shall we go upstairs now?"_ I ask, wanting them to stop looking at my house in wonder.  
  
They follow me, and we pass the suits of armor and impressionist paintings at a painfully slow rate. The twins keep stopping to look or touch or converse in a mixture of Japanese and Sign Language. I decide to take them to a place where they won't be able to ask me awkward questions about the date this was made or why this Renoir has purple crayon on it...  
  
We go to the games room. It's filled with old arcade games, pinball machines, and a pool table. It also has a mini movie theatre where Sessho- maru often watches porn with his university buddies. The room was a birthday present for Sessho-maru. He was fourteen and I was six, and he wouldn't let me play in there for the longest time. I eventually gave him a bloody nose and locked myself in there for a whole night.  
  
I grin fondly at that memory. Sessho-maru had thrown such a tantrum that I could feel the vibrations of his head hitting the floor two stories up.  
  
We enter the room, and both the girls stand in awe for a few moments, then after a confirming look from me, they engage in a stunningly intense game of Foozball.  
  
I watch, amused, as the girls exchange glares and insults over a petty game of table soccer. Eventually, Kagome falls behind, letting more and more plastic soccer balls get into her plastic net, her plastic players standing useless. When the game ends, she flops onto a couch, looking tired as her twin does a victory dance around her. They seem to have forgotten I was here.  
  
Well, I don't like to be ignored. I sit next to Kagome on her couch, and ask her if she would like to play a game of it with me.  
  
She goes red, but she nods.  
  
Kikyo goes red also, but for different reasons. _"Can we play later?"_ she asks, her eyes alight.  
  
_"You can play winner,"_ I sign, looking over at Kagome. She smiles at me, and something stirs in my chest.  
  
She has a beautiful smile.  
  
We reach the table and the game begins. It all goes well until... Kagome scores.  
  
She was supposed to be BAD!  
  
I can't be beaten by a girl? Especially a girl who just had a humiliating loss at the hands of her twin sister! And I have Foozball access whenever I want...  
  
I get much more aggressive. Vibrations come from inside my throat. Kikyo asks me why I'm growling.  
  
_"I'm not growling!"_ I sign angrily.  
  
Damn.  
  
I took my hands off the controls. Damn damn damn.  
  
Kagome scored again. Not just once, but twice.  
  
By the end of the goal, Kagome's the clear winner. She beat me, 1-15.  
  
She cheated. I don't know how she did it, but she cheated.  
  
I resist the urge to growl again. Suddenly both twins' heads perk up as they hear something. The floor vibrates. They want us downstairs.  
  
I exit the game room, pocketing Sessho-maru's **"Hentai Party: Porn All Night Long!!"** DVD.  
  
It shall serve its purpose. We descend the staircase to the main hall. My mother and Dr. Higurashi are hugging... that's always a good sign.  
  
_"Say goodbye to your new friends, Inuyasha,"_ orders Kaede.  
  
_"Goodbye, Kagome. Goodbye Kikyo."_ I sign, grinning.  
  
They both wave, and enter their mother's car.  
  
I smile at them, and wave, always the courteous host.  
  
As soon as the doors close, I remove the veil of politeness off my face and turn to my mother. Fingerspelling at a painfully slow rate, so I know she'll understand it perfectly, I ask my question.  
  
_"So. Can I get the implant or not?"_


	6. Pervert and Potted Plants

Hi.  
  
I finally updated.   
  
I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I took so long. My muse was brutally murdered by my fifty year old director who decided it would be fun to pinch my rear- end. Not fun. But I'm saying it wasn't my fault.  
  
...  
  
Actually, it was entirely my fault. Wholly my fauly. Completely and utterly my fault. I'm a BAD PERSON. I'm sorry.  
  
Onto review responses:  
  
**To all of you out there asking:** I AM NOT GOING TO OVERBASH KIKYO IN THIS FIC. I PROMISE. THE LAST FEW CHAPTERS WERE THE LAST OF IT. I AM NOT GOING TO KILL HER OR STAB HER OR DO ANYTHING ELSE TO HER, OK? THANK YOU.  
  
**Lady Tomboy:** I'm learning Sign Language for fun, actually. My friend got me into it, and now I fingerspell random stuff in my spare time. [Yep. I know I am a little odd]

* * *

I get out of the limo and into the clinic. It's like the Shikon centre, cement and dull and with those little automatic doors that open so suddenly that they make you jump. I walk through the scary doors and take the elevator up to the third floor of the building, to where my appointment is supposed to take place.  
  
I glance at the business card as I reach a door, **"Houshi Miroku, Auditory Doctor."  
**  
Well, here it goes...  
  
I bang my knuckles against the door and no one answers. After a few moments of hesitation I open the door.  
  
Gods.  
  
Oh gods.  
  
I should have left the door closed.  
  
The doctor and a nurse are in each others arms, kissing. REALLY kissing. The kind of kissing Sessho-maru watches on his hentai DVDs late at night when he thinks no one is looking.  
  
Sometimes I watch Anime with those subtitles that allow us to follow along. If I was an Anime character I would have had a huge sweatdrop or a face- fault or something. Needless to say it was embarrassing.  
  
The doctor, whose face is the color of beetroot, shouts something that I don't understand. I sign _"Sorry!"_ and run.  
  
I run down stairs, across corridors, and through hallways. I finally reach a point where I'm too exhausted to move my feet anymore. I slump against the wall of a hallway, panting. When I catch my breath, I notice someone standing in a doorway across from my feet.  
  
_"What are you doing here?"_ signs Kagome, looking nervous, _"did you hear me trying to..."  
_  
I raise my eyebrows.  
  
_"Sorry. I forgot you were deaf for a moment."_ She grins, embarrassed. _"I just thought you were particularly good at sign language."  
_  
_"What were you trying to do, anyways?"_ I ask, pushing myself up from the floor.  
  
_"Nothing... Just..."_ she breaks off, looking back into the room where she came from. _"One second."_ She turns back into the office for a few moments then re-emerges and leads me into the room.  
  
A woman stands at a desk. Her chestnut hair is drawn back into a high ponytail at the top of her head, her magenta eyes glinting out at me from behind small glasses. _"This is Inuyasha."_ Signs Kagome, smiling, _"Inuyasha, this is my counselor, Sango."_  
  
_"I think I saw your ad in the paper."_ I sign.  
  
_"Really?"_ she grins, _"Yeah, I help people go on with their lives after bad things happen."_ She looks over at Kagome, _"This one here, she was in an accident that damaged her vocal cords. We're working on helping her talk again."_ Sango ruffles Kagome's hair affectionately _"She's making real progress! But what are you doing here?"  
_  
_"I want to get a cochlear implant sometime soon."  
_  
Sango's eyes narrow dangerously, _"Miroku will be your doctor, then."  
  
"I suppose,"_ I say, my face reddening at what I had witnessed earlier. _"But he might not want to work with me anymore..."_ I tell them what happened, my face growing redder and redder as my story progresses.  
  
_"That pervert."_ Sango says, looking rather put out. _"I suppose that's one of his many nurse girlfriends."  
  
"He has more than one?!"  
  
"I think the count is at fifteen,"_ signs Kagome, rolling her eyes.  
  
_"Enough."_ Sango declares, her face red, _"Do you want something to eat?"_ she asks me, offering a tray of sweets from a bowl on her desk. I take three and put them all in my mouth at once. I love caramels.  
  
Kagome wrinkles her nose in disgust. I wink at her, my mouth full of chewy goodness.  
  
Suddenly both of them look up. Sango goes to the door and opens it. Dr. Miroku enters, looking very anxious. I hide behind a potted plant, the smell of dirt filling my keen nostrils. Sango and Miroku have a short conversation, which ends with Dr. Miroku having a large handprint decorating the left side of his face. He walks over to me, rubbing his cheek.  
  
_"Hello, Inuyasha"_ he signs eloquently, looking embarrassed. _"It's nice to meet you at last. I've heard of your father, you know."  
_  
I scowl. EVERYONE mentions my father when I meet them.  
  
_"Look, I'm sorry if I did anything to offend you. It was my mistake,"_ he looks apprehensively over his shoulder, where Sango stands over him, arms crossed. _"I should have controlled myself... but you know..."_ he smoothes a strand of his black hair from his forehead. _"Sometimes the charms of a lovely female are difficult to resist."_  
  
I raise my eyebrows, and notice Sango do the same.  
  
_"Shall we start over?"_ asks the doctor, an apologetic smile on his face.  
  
I think for a moment, and then nod. Forgiving this rather perverted man shouldn't be too hard. He seems nice enough.  
  
_"Come with me then."_ He signs. I get out from the plant and follow him into his office.

* * *

After a series of tests, he concludes the same thing as Dr. Higurashi; that I am profoundly deaf, and the only way I would ever hear would be to get a cochlear implant.  
  
_"An implant wouldn't really help you very much."_ he signs [very business-like now] after he explains how an implant works, _"If you wanted to get the full benefit of an implant, you would have had to have the operation when you were under the age of five, so your language skills would have had a chance to develop."_ He looks over his notes. "_But some say that this is the right time, because you are at the age where you canmake the decision for yourself."  
_  
_"I want to."_ I sign, _"I want to know what it's like to be normal."  
  
"You'll still be considered hard of hearing, and whenever the implant's switched off, you won't be able to hear a thing."  
  
"I know."  
  
"And you still want to go through with it?"  
_  
I nod.  
  
_"Well, I can schedule you in sometime next month."  
_  
Next month. A month until I can hear. A month until things won't be such a mystery. I can hardly wait. 


	7. Apprehension and Operations

Hello,  
  
I updated on time! Wahoo!  
  
Please review! Thanks!  
  
Responses:

**To all of you:** Yes, I know my chapters are short. I'm sorry. I think, though, if I were forced to make them longer, they would take longer to come out, and you would want me to update faster...

**Remix69er: **I'm learning my ASL from an online dictionary for now, but I hope to find somewhere for proper lessons.

**Lone-Puppy: **Inuyasha and Kagome are both seventeen.

**Izayoi:** He can't talk. He can sign, but no talking.

* * *

I wake up and inhale deeply, preparing myself for the wait. One more day until the operation.  
  
I've been having interesting dreams, filled with knives and magnets and little black boxes that attach to your jeans. I've decided to admit it to myself: I'm nervous.  
  
But what if something happens to me during the operation? I've read stories about people who can feel every slice into their skin. And what about complications? I decide to stop thinking about them and play video games.  
  
I walk down the stairs and enter the game room. The widescreen TV is sitting there, my X-box looking innocently at me, begging to be played. As I head towards the couch I brush up against the foozball table...  
  
I haven't used the thing since the Higurashis were here for dinner. I reminisce for a few moments about that night. Kagome and Kikyo at each other at table soccer... that awful tour... Kagome's smile... I feel better, despite my nerves.

* * *

I arrive at the Shikon centre at seven thirty in the morning the next day. My parents have both taken a day off work to be with me while I get the operation. I sat awkwardly in the limo with them for half an hour while we drove here.  
  
We go through the doors and up to the front desk. I scuff the floor with my feet while mother and father talk to the lady at the front desk for half an hour. When they finally finish talking and I follow them to my room, number 712.  
  
It's simply furnished, with a table and a chair in the corner of the room and a large bed dominating the place. The lady gives me a sort of ugly smock thing. I'm then ushered into a tiny bathroom and forced to change into the beast.  
  
I slip off my sweatpants and tee-shirt and get into the teal gown. It feels like a dress. A really ugly dress. I decide to stay in the bathroom for a little while.  
  
When I get out, a nurse is waiting to take my temperature and make sure I'm "strong" enough to have the implant. The nurse understands no sign language, but still is obligated to stick a needle into my wrist to keep me hydrated.  
  
This day is getting off to a bad start.  
  
I am ordered to stay in my bed. I'm hungry, as I haven't eaten breakfast today. I put my fingers together into points and put them together several times, making the simple sign for _"food."_ I've used this one so many times even father knows it, so they ask the nurse if I can have something to eat.  
  
No. It might interfere with the anesthetic. Great.  
  
Oh... But I'm allowed to have ice chips! So fulfilling... little shavings of frozen water for breakfast. Just dandy.  
  
As my operation is at noon, I have time to burn while mother and father talk with the doctors about the procedure. I search my room for something to read. I find the **"Parenting"** magazine, and begin reading an article on how to adapt your baby to solid food. The magazine staff suggests yogurt.  
  
I get myself a cup full of ice chips and settle down to some in depth literature. Who would have known that the blood from umbilical cords can actually be of use?  
  
Hours pass. I go through three more cups of ice chips before Dr. Miroku and Dr. Higurashi come and tell me it's time to get ready for the operation. I suddenly notice how full my bladder is, from the drip and the ice. I relieve myself, then go to the rolling bed that will take me to the operation room.  
  
I feel frightened. All the worries I have about the operation come back tenfold. I start breathing faster.  
  
My mother comes up to me and kisses me on both my cheeks. Her face is wet. Tears are streaming from her eyes, and her mascara is smudging.  
  
She points to herself, then crosses her arms over her chest, and points back to me. _"I love you."_  
  
_"I love you too, mother."_ I sign, trying to smile reassuringly. _"I'll be fine."_  
  
My father, who has never been very close to me, grabs me in a bear hug, and then helps me onto the bed.  
  
The door is opened, and Dr. Higurashi and Miroku gently push me to the operating room. I feel touched by my parents. They're actually paying the attention to me as they do to Sessho-maru.  
  
I find myself facing a pair of swinging doors. I guess it's time for my operation to happen. I take a steadying breath, and we enter the room where the electrodes are to be placed in my ear.  
  
_"Hey, Inuyasha, you'll do great!"_ Miroku signs, smiling.  
  
_"Yes, there's nothing to worry about, sweetheart."_ Dr. Higurashi signs.  
  
I attempt a smile and fail. Miserably.  
  
_"It's all going to be fine..."_ signs Miroku.  
  
I nod, and lie down properly on the bed.  
  
_"Now, Inuyasha, all I need for you to do is relax. Just relax, and the operation will be done and it will be morning and everything will be fine."_ She takes a rubber mask and fits it over my mouth and nose _"Take a deep breath."  
_  
I oblige.  
  
_"Another one, please."  
_  
The world is growing fuzzy around the edges.  
  
_"A few more deep breaths, you're doing great."_  
  
With each inhalation of air, the world grows darker and darker, until every sense I have is gone and I know no more.

* * *

Well, stay tuned, I guess! Talk to you guys later, thanks! 


	8. It's Gonna be a Loong Recovery

Hewwo!

If this has any relevancy, my cousin from England says, "HI!"

I dedicate this chapter to my cousin Georgi, who has come to stay with me for a few days. She is an honorary member of the Death to Wedding Peach society, so of course she's the awesomest thing ever.

Back to the real world...

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** This chapter is short. Please don't complain. I already feel bad enough, but I have to get this out before I have to go on a family vacation. [and Georgi can't come, so it'll be no fun] It'll be about a week before I can update, so be nice. Bye. 

**To all of you: **Inuyasha is still deaf. He won't hear until the implant is switched on, so don't worry about that until later.

* * *

I open my eyes, wondering where I am and why the heck the left side of my head hurts. Miroku stands over me, shaking my arm. He smiles at me, his perverted face full of relief and happiness.

"_You did wonderfully, Inuyasha."_ He signs_, "The whole operation went without a hitch, it only took a few hours, and with luck, you'll be able to hear in a few weeks!"_

"_A few weeks?!" _I ask groggily. _"Why a few weeks? Why not now?"_

"_Still a little out if it from the anesthetic, my friend?"_ he asks, _"Do you not remember that you have to heal, and then have the thing fitted before the implant is switched on?"_

Ah. I seem to have forgotten that tiny detail. But, there are more important things to deal with right now.

Like the sudden urge I have to vomit.

When I have finished empting my stomach, a wave of drowsiness hits me._  
_

"_Goodnight, Miroku. I think I'll sleep now."_

"_Goodnight, Inuyasha." _Signs Miroku, then shuts the door.

* * *

"_Hello, little brother."_

"_Hello, Sessho-maru."_

My brother stands over me, his face unreadable. As usual.

"_How was the operation?" _he asks me, coming over to my bed.

"_I don't really remember."_

"_Does it hurt?" _he asks, touching the large bandage encircling my head. _"This bandage is huge."_

"_Not really."_ I sign, _"The medicine hasn't worn off."_

"_These are for you." _he signs, handing over a bouquet of flowers, _"Rin got them."_

Rin is his girlfriend of about three years, his opposite. In fact, I almost like Rin. She's a little bubbly for my tastes though.

"_Tell her thank you."_ I sign. As he exits, I entertain myself with another dull magazine, **"Home and Garden."** This one's even worse.

I'm one page 33, **"How to make a Jelly Roll,"** when the door opens and Kagome walks in.

Kagome?

With me looking like this!!! GAH!!!!

The covers come over my head. Hopefully they will stay there until the bandage comes off.

Kagome walks over to me and tugs at the blanket, pulling it away from my face.

"_What was that for?"_ she asks, looking confused.

"_I... I'm feeling tired."_

"_Oh... I'm sorry. You must need your rest... I only came because I thought... I thought you would..." _she stops signing, her face red.

"_I would what?"_

"_Oh, nothing."_

"_Kagome...?" _I can't understand my feelings for the girl. One moment I hate her guts, the next moment she's just so sweet. _"You thought what?"_

"_I thought you would be lonely in the hospital, that's all. I don't like these places and... and, well, mother said you've only had one visitor."_

"_Shut up!" _I sign angrily, _"My parents are busy, that's all."_

"_I know." she signs, looking away, "I'm sorry."_

...

"_It's alright, Kagome, stay awhile."_


	9. My Views on Hospital Food

Hi everyone! I'm ba-ack!

And the vacation was cool! Well, sorta. It gave me lots of inspiration for chapter 11! I went to a lake in New Hampshire and my uncle and aunt have a boat so I went out in it a lot. And that gave me some ideas for Fluffi-licious scenes coming up later in 'The Sound of Her Voice.' Don't you love fluff?!

So, how was everyone's life while I was away? Did you guys know reviews make my day? Well, they do. [yay subliminal messages]

I was surprised: Only one review question, and I've answered it alot. The question: **Why doesn't Inuyasha talk?**

This is the last time I'm answering this question:

He was born deaf, so he didn't get a chance for language skills to develop when he was a kid. He learned how to sign, so that's how he communicates with the world. He has working vocal cords, but he doesn't know how to use them because he's never heard his own voice, so he doesn't use them.

Does that clear everything up? I hope it does. Sorry if that bored you... Just wanted to make myself clear. Anyways, enjoy. This chapter is longer, so none of you can chainsaw me to death[Samurai Katagi and her death threats there.]

love and hugs!

sugarsprite

* * *

I never realized how intelligent Kagome is. She signs vehemently about most everything, we're in the middle of a deep political discussion when visiting hours end and a nurse comes in to bring me dinner.

_"I guess I'll see you then."_ She signs, a shy smile on her face.

_"Wait..."_ I sign, then almost lose the courage to ask the next question, _"Will... will... you come again?"_

She looks at me, wondering if I was joking, examining my face for any hint of a lie. When she sees I'm being truthful, she smiles and nods, then waves goodbye.

I feel so happy and relieved. I love it when I get what I want. Kagome's coming tomorrow!!

And speaking of what I want, this hospital dinner is definitely NOT what I want.

Definitely NOT. I will not eat this. NO. I would DIE.

_"None of this, please."_ I tell the nurse, narrowing my eyes until they're little slits.

"..." the nurse doesn't reply, but moves her mouth in speech.

Why is my luck so bad? DOES NO ONE SPEAK ENOUGH SIGN LANGUAGE TO GIVE ME EDIBLE FOOD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I try to get up to put the food in the trash, but my head resists my wanting to move. With more pain than I've ever felt in my life, my newly operated-upon body resists to me trying to get up.

I lie back down before I vomit again, and press the button for assistance. My head wound gives another twinge of pain as if to say, "And that's not all I can do to ya, buster, so you'd better watch out."

Another nurse comes rushing, to see the other nurse already here. She looks exasperated, but the other nurse informs her of the situation.

The second nurse thinks for a moment, then grabs a pad of paper and a pen from a pocket and hands them to me.

I hesitate: I don't like writing things much... but in such a dire case as this.

**'I don't want to eat this'** I write, frustrated, **'It looks like you cremated a cat and put its remains on a cheap plastic plate with some badly prepared rubber vegetables.'** Satisfied with my response, I hand the pad to the second nurse, who erupts into giggles when she reads.

**'Would you like something else, Mr. Taisho?"**

I attempt to nod, but as I do, I am forced to recoil into the covers, clutching my head.

I grab the pad and write the word **'painkiller'** in all caps, then underline it twice to emphasize my point.

She reads, then nods and leaves the room with the other nurse.

When they return, they have a slightly more palatable meal and a BIG pink and blue pill.

I take the pill and suddenly find I'm too sleepy to eat. Just my luck...

I think the nurses did it on purpose.

But right now I'm too drowsy for revenge.

Nighty-night.

* * *

Kagome returns to my room at around three the next day. She wears jeans and a green turtleneck. Her ebony hair is in a high ponytail, and she has a notebook clasped in her hands. _"This'll help you communicate with the nurses"_ she signs after she hands it to me, _"When I've been here, I've always had Kikyo bring me a notebook. You can also sketch..."_

_"I don't draw."_

_"or write..."_

_"I hate writing."_

_"Or play word games."_

_"Those are boring."_

_"You seem to prefer MIND games."_ She signs, annoyance on her face.

What to do?! I don't want her to go, but I could never apologize, otherwise all the self pride I have in the world would drain out of me and I'd end up a worthless ball of fluff.

_"... I suppose I do."_ I sign._ "There's not much else to do in my house."_

_"What?"_ she signs sarcastically, "_You, the billionaire's son, who has everything he could possible desire?"_

_"No company my age."_ I sign, _"Parents who ignore me, a house full of priceless things that break easily, and only grown up servants to talk to."_

_"You have a brother, don't you?"_

_"He's evil." I sign, "I hate him."_

_"You don't."_

_"And how would you know?"_ I sign angrily.

_"I suppose I wouldn't."_ she signs, and sits on a chair next to the bed. _"But I'll be your friend Inuyasha... that is, if you want me to be."_

_"I don't care."_ I sign, hiding my happiness, _"if you want to be, that's fine with me."_

_"Don't you care?"_ she signs, looking dejected and angry, _"I was just kidding, Inuyasha. I would never be your friend."_ She looks away, _"I gotta go."_ She gets up sadly and turns her back to me.

Well, I sure as hell screwed that up.

_"Wait!"_ I sign, but realize she hasn't seen me. I grab a sheet of paper from her notebook, crumple it into a ball and throw it at her.

She turns around.

Damn.

I made her cry.

_"Kagome..."_ I sign,_ "I... I...I'm sorry."_

I didn't melt. Apologizing to her... it even feels... good.

_"I lied."_ I sign, _"I would love to be your friend. Please?"_

She smiles and sits down.

We talk for a long time, then the visiting hours end again.

_"Kagome..."_ I sign as she starts to get ready to leave.

_"Yes?"_

_"Would you like to come visit me in my summer home when I get better?"_

_"You have a summer home?"_

_"Yeah. It's on an island in a lake, and I think you'd like it there..."_ I stop, _"If you want to, of course."_

_"I would love to."_

I smile in relief.

She gets up and...

kisses my cheek.

Wow.

Life is pretty good right now. Except for hospital food. That's still crap.


	10. Uhhhg!

* * *

Hi!

I like this chapter!

So how is everyone? I hoped you liked the fluff in the last chappie! Well, I'm not President, Dictator, and Keeper of the Wombat Pit for the Fluff Club for nothing! I'm a great appreciator of fluff, if you couldn't tell.

Well anyways, I'm very excited, as I'm almost going to have three hundred reviews! Wow!

Do you know how much I love you guys? Good.

E-hugs for everyone! And Fluff Cookies!

And ooo. I got two death threats if I don't continue... one from Samurai Katagi, [and her chainsaw, Charlotte OO she named her chainsaw] and one from Legnalos, [and her lightsaber] I'm afraid. Oo

Responses:

**hanyou-elf:** Yep. I'm hearing. But I love ASL and hope to take an independent study in it at school. It's so cool!!

**All o' you:** I am hoping to try and publish this story someday [with major edits, of course] and I like constructive criticism. It helps to make my stories better. I know what flames are, [Lol. Once I got flamed for a story I wrote and it made me laugh my tail off. He/she spelt jealous as "Jelouse"] and I can tell the difference between healthy criticism and "I hate this. It sucks. Go to hell." I want to know how to make this story better, so tell me if you have any ideas. [This does not mean rip my fic to shreds, please be gentle, polite, and spell things correctly.] Remember, if you're mean, I'll be sad because I love this fic, so try to put it as kindly as you can.

Thanks!

* * *

I despise despise despise DESPISE being an invalid. I can't get up. I have to depend on everyone to help me. My head feels like I've got a screw drilling through my skull now the morphine has worn off, and I pretty much hate everything. I got home yesterday, and now I can't even have Kagome coming in to take my mind off my recovering from head surgery, I just have "mommy" and "daddy" peeking in every now and then, and Kaede and Myoga taking up soup all the time.

I don't want soup. Why do people think soup is good for sick people? And I'm not even sick, so why soup? I want REAL food, like sushi. I want sushi, and I want it now.

But no. I get soup. Lucky, lucky me. Watch me while I go jump off a cliff.

And I miss Kagome. She's nice to me, and she doesn't treat me like a little child. She's pretty, smart, and she can understand Sign Language. And I want to have a legitimate conversation with someone.

And then there's the fact that she kissed me.

I feel like a cup of tea whenever I think of that. When I remember it, I feel warm and fuzzy, with little bubbles of happiness in my stomach. Like tea. Or a squirrel with gas.

* * *

My head allows me to get up for the first time in a week and a half. I slowly walk to the sun room, a room entirely made of glass, where I recline on a chair and drink juice. Mmm. Juice. Peach Passion makes me feel happy.

_"Well, hello there."_ Signs Myoga, coming and sitting beside me in another chair,_ "Are you ready to go?"_

_"To go where?"_

_"The hospital."_

_"What?"_ I ask. _"I just came from the hospital!"_

_"You're going to get your stiches taken out."_

Damn. More pain. Why do I always forget dates of unpleasant things?

We go to the limo at an agonizingly slow rate. I want to walk brusquely out there and drive over there to get it over with, but my body doesn't want to move quickly. It wants to take a very long time, and if I try something else, it severely punishes me.

When I finally get in the limo, every bump we go over causes my head to twinge. After an eternity we finally reach the clinic, and I get out. Very slowly.

When I get in, some god-sent nurse takes me and puts me in a wheelchair. She wheels me to Miroku's office.

Where the real agony begins.

* * *

The next time I go to that clinic, my whole family comes too. "Mommy," "Daddy," Sessho-maru, Myoga and Kaede all attempt to squeeze into Sango's already small office.

I'm going to get my implant turned on today.

And I'm scared. I'm not sure if I want to hear after all that. Maybe things will be better if I just stay the way I am. I'm not sure I'm ready to have a fifth sense after almost sixteen years of only having four.

Sango enters her office. It's small and cramped, with an examining table, a desk for herself, the potted plant I hid behind when I didn't want to see Miroku, and a couch, all stuffed into a room the size of a regular bedroom, [or a closet, if you're talking my house.]

She smiles at me, taking in my sweaty hands which are attempting to wring each other's neck. _"Nervous?"_ she asks, smiling.

I nod.

_"Good."_ She signs, _"You should be, this is a big day."_

She takes from a pocket a little bag containing the headset, the speech processor, and the transmitting coil.

The headset is a peach colored device that hooks to my ear. It collects the sound and sends it to the processor, which is a mini computer that processes sound into electrical signals. The signals are sent to the transmitting coil, a device which attaches to the implant inside my head because of a little magnet that has been . The implant sends the signals to a bunch of electrodes in my inner ear, which the brain translates as sound and lets me hear it.

Sango attaches the headset to my ear, places the transmitter on the magnet and helps me hook the processor onto my pants. She smiles again, _"Are you ready?"_

Am I? I nod.

Sango turns it on.

And something happens. Something strange and wonderful.

I jump.

"Cahn yoo heer me?" Sango says.

I turn my head lightning fast to the source of the noise. Sango's voice is low and rich, strange.

"My baybe!!!" shouts my mother, and smothers me with kisses that make nasty squelching sounds as they make contact with my skin. Her voice is high pitched and squeaky.

"My sun. My boy." My father exclaims, and hugs me again. His voice is a lot deeper than mother or Sango's... I wonder why.

"Cahn yoo reely heer, Eenooyasha?" asks Myoga.

"Uhhhg." I whimper, then jump.

I just spoke. It wasn't exactly a word, but I just heard my own voice.

Sango makes a hissing noise, and everyone falls silent. "Eenooyasha's probuhblie verie overstimulated rite now. Let's limit it two won sownd at a tyme."

"Uhhhg." I say again. "Uhhhg." _"Sango, I'm talking!"_

I'm talking, but I don't understand a word of everyone else's speech.

She smiles at me and nods. _"Yes, you are."_ She signs.

Suddenly I hear another sound

**Thump thump thump thump.** The noise stops, then another sound makes me jump.

**Creeeeeeeeeaaaak**

The sound is accompanied by Miroku opening the door.

**Thump thump thump.** He walks in and says something to Sango.

"Hay Sahngo. Are yoo dooing anyfing tonite?"

"Shut up, yoo idiot, cahn't yoo see Eye'm frickkin bisy?"

"Uhhhg" I say again, happily.

"Eenooyasha!" cries Miroku. "Havin yor implahnt switched ohn?"

I look around, hoping for a translation. _"I can't understand"_ I sign helplessly.

_"Oh you will."_ Signs Sango. _"You will soon."_

_

* * *

_

Did you like? I did!

**Note:** The screwy spelling is because Inuyasha can't understand any language. It's all phonetic. I'm not reverting to my first grade style of writing. I promise! It will get better!

Love and Hugs!

Sugarsprite


	11. Monday is Funday

New chapter.

Sorry, no responses tonight. Or long author's notes. I'm posting this as fast as I can, beacause I REALLY have to go to bed. School tomorrow. Blegh.

Love and Hugs!

Sugarsprite.

I love you guys so much! Review!

* * *

The lake is tranquil and calm today, even though it makes a strange shhhhing noise, which startled me greatly upon my arrival to my summer home yesterday night.

Ever since my implant has been switched on, the world's been an inspiration to me. Who would have known that refrigerators make growling noises? Or that telephones make a 'Tling Tling,' sound before they're picked up? Or that men have much deeper voices than females? Or that crickets make a 'shreeep shreep' noise all night.

Everything's so interesting.

And mysterious.

And Kagome's coming today.

With her family, but still, I get to see her.

My parents have organized a five day party for all those involved in my operation. We're all coming to the big house on the shore where we'll meet, but then I get to take the Higurashis, Miroku and Sango to Taisho Island, our private isle in the middle of the lake.

I usually am the one to spend the most time on Taisho Island. It's small, only a quarter of a mile long, and half that wide, but still, it's pretty much my summer lair, where I can be alone whenever I want.

I hear a crunching noise and a growl. I jump, turn around, finding the source of the noise to be Miroku and Sango arriving in his car. I wonder how he convinced her to be trapped in his car for two hours.

They get out, and slam the door, making me flinch. As much as I love noises; loud ones have no appeal to me. I remember the pleasure I had slamming them in my house, causing my parents considerable displeasure.

I can only grunt in response to the new noises. No eloquent replies, just "Uhhhg?" and "Uhhhg..." and "Uhhhg."

Sango and Miroku both sign and speak, so they do both when they talk to me. As Miroku is my audiologist, and Sango is my speech therapist, they both agree that gradual emersion is the way to go with me.

"Hehloh!" says Sango. _"Hello."_ She signs. _"Thank you for inviting us!"_

"Yer wehlkum." Says father.

'Yer wehlkum.' A proper response to the sounds 'Thahnk yoo'. 'Thahnk yoo's' equivalent being the sign when you take your outstretched hand bring it down from our lips. 'Thahnk yoo' _thank you_.

At least I'm learning.

"Hey Inuyasha" speak/signs Miroku. "How's the implant?"

"_A little overwhelming."_

"Ah, you'll get used to it."

"_I still can't talk." _I sign, _"It's annoying."_

"You will." speak/signs Sango, "We're going to start therapy this weekend."

My father smiles, not having understood half of the conversation, and says something like: "Kum wiv me. Eye'll shoh yoo ware yoor rooms arr. Eenooyasha my name! I understand it!! haz been wayting all day for his gests, and eye ecspekt he'll wanna wayt for the others"

I watch while Sango and Miroku are lead into the house by my father, leaving me alone on the porch.

I walk around to the corner, where the porch looks over the lake. It's pretty. The water is calm, with a few tranquil waves dancing about on the surface. A seabird flies about, making a cawing sound as it dips its wings along the surface of the water. I sigh, Which makes a 'haaaahhhhh' sound, I've discovered. and sit on one of the big deckchairs on the porch. When is she going to come?

Kagome.

I wonder what her name sounds like. I know mine's Eenooyasha, but I've never heard anyone say hers... or maybe they have, and I just don't know what it sounds like.

The crunch or tires on gravel makes my implant loose all the noises from the lake.

The Higurashis.

They're here.

Dr. Higurashi opens the front door of her old looking minivan, and opens the passenger doors, allowing her brood to descend from the vehicle.

Souta comes out first. The little kid looks as though another few minutes with his teenaged sisters would have ended with him disemboweled and thrown off on a highway somewhere. A very annoyed Kikyo walks out next, dressed in hip-huggers and a white tee-shirt.

Whoa.

She actually looks... nice. Like, normal, nice. Like, nice in a way that means she's not looking at me like I'm the one who's going to give her a secure, rich life. She smile and waves at me.

Kagome walks out from around the other side, a light blue, knee length sundress gracing her delicate frame. She catches my eye and smiles at me. A secret smile. A smile that makes me feel...

Wait! REALITY CHECK, TAISHO INUYASHA.

It was a kiss goodbye. It didn't mean anything, just goodbye. You shouldn't be feeling that. It was nothing.

Just goodbye.

Kagome walks up to me, _"Are you any better than when I last saw you?"_

"_Yes."_ I sign. _"A lot better, thank you."_

She smiles again_ "And your hair's different."_

Oh yeah. My hair.

It's currently longish, black, and pulled back into a ponytail, hiding the spot the doctors had to shave off a bit from behind my ear. I luckily have enough hair to cover the short spot. But it looks different than the last time she saw me with it visible, which was when I was hiding from Miroku in Sango's office. The other times I had a huge bandage covering most of my head.

"_Yeah, it's not very nice looking, and the bad thing is I'll just have to wait until it grows back."_

"_I actually like it. You look older."_

"_You like it?"_ She likes it? Remind me to pull it back more often. _"Well... do you want to come inside?"_

"_That would be lovely." _She signs.

What if...

It would never hurt to try...

I offer her my arm.

She takes it without any hesitation.

Things... they can only get a better, can't they?

I take her hand in my own. Her hand is cool and dry; it seems so tiny in my palm that I'm scared it'll break.

She squeezes my hand.

I catch her eye. She smiles up at me and we walk inside.

And this is only Monday.

I have six more days. And I love everything.

Especially her.


	12. Delicious!

Hello!!!

**ASL Update:** My school won't let me take ASL. I have to continue with crappy French instead. But my close friend Kelsey gave me Sign Language Flashcards!!! They're so much fun!

**Responses:**

A bunch of you seem to picture Inuyasha and his cohorts as little kids... Oo... That's ok, I guess... But if you mean Inuyasha's immature for his age, well, I think he is in the original too. And he's especially immature in this one too, because he's hasn't had much contact with anyone.

**Unknown Fool:** Sorry I made Inuyasha human... I just thought it wouldn't make sense if he was a hanyou. I love his hair and ears and eyes, but it just wouldn't fit... sorry!

**Izayoi:** If you want to learn ASL, see if your school has any courses in it. If not, go to my bio, where I have an ASL dictionary link, which is helpful. Also, look in your local library for books on the subject.

I'm glad you guys like it! I'm so thrilled to know I'm appreciated (_hugs herself, then realizes no one is paying any attention at all.)_

Ahem... Chapter 12.

* * *

I take off the exterior part of the implant when I go on my boat. The noise is almost unbearable, and I can't hear anything else besides the growl of the engine. If I keep it on, I get unbearable headaches. And I don't like those.

After my parents meet everyone and they all go through the formalities, I take my guests over to the dock. Removing my implant and putting it in it's little case, I straddle the boat and jump inside. Miroku, Sango and Kikyo copy me, then helping the others onto the motorboat.

Kagome's the last one on.

_"You can all sit down here,"_ I sign, pointing to the white leather seats, _"Don't do anything stupid, like jump out. We'll be there in ten minutes."_

They all nod to show they understood, Dr. Higurashi translating a little to Souta.

I start the motor, the violent vibrations of it telling me that it's working. We zoom across the surface of the lake, making a bunch of waves.

I park the boat against a dock near the house on Taisho Island.

_"Welcome!"_ I sign happily, replacing the implant, _"Welcome to my summer home."_

_"It's lovely!"_ signs Sango.

"Juhst lyke yoo, Sango." says Miroku. "Butt yoor fiyve tymes moor byootieful"

Even though I can only understand the word 'Sango,' I get the basic gist of what he was saying, especially since his hand was wandering about on her backside. Sango's eye twitches. She raises her hand and...

_SLAP_

"Eye tayke it bak. I tayke it bak!" he cries, rolling on the dock, "Yoor a huhndred tymes moor byootieful!"

She twitches again. A moment of silence, then she begins kicking him as hard and as fast as she can, eventually rolling him into the water of the lake, screaming things I'm sure are profane.

_"Should I get him out, Miss Sango?"_ asks Kagome fearfully.

_"No."_ she signs and says at the same time, still twitching, _"Leave him to drown."_

"No matterr how mutch yoo hurt mi, Eye'll allwayz luv yoo!" comes a voice from the water.

I may not understand, but whatever he said sure made Sango mad. I had to restrain her from jumping in after him and pummeling him to death. She kept saying these words that I didn't understand, but I kind of got the idea that they weren't appropriate due to Dr. Higurashi trying to cover the ears of all of her three children.

"_Break it up!"_ I sign, _"Sango, stop killing Miroku! Miroku, stop pissing Sango off."_

_"but..."_ signs/says Sango.

"_but..." _signs/says Miroku from the water.

I take Sango aside. _"How about I put him in the room above the boathouse and give you the key?"_ I sign, keeping my back to Miroku, _"Then you can 'accidentally' lock him inside."_

She grins and helps Miroku out of the water. Dr Higurashi uncovers her children's ears.

We turn and look at the house. It's yellow, with two stories, a large porch, a hammock in the front yard, and a garden at the back. We climb up the stairs to the front door and open it.

_"There aren't as many bedrooms here."_ I tell them, "_Some of you'll have to share. How about Kagome and Kikyo share this bedroom,"_ I point to a door, _"Souta, you can have my bed,"_ I sign, _"It's up the stairs and to your left, Sango, you can sleep in the empty bedroom across from mine, and Dr. Higurashi can have the other one in here,"_ I sign,pointing to another door

_"Where'll you and I sleep?"_ ask Miroku testily.

_"You can sleep in the spare room above the boathouse,"_ I sign, winking at Sango.

_"But where will you sleep?"_ asks Kagome.

_"I'll sleep on the porch."_

She smiles quizzically, _"Won't you get cold?"_

I nod, _"I have sleeping bags though."_

They all get to unpacking in their respective rooms. I walk out onto the porch and look out onto the sunset. It's pretty...

But a certain girl staying in my house is prettier.

* * *

Dinner that night is an interesting affair. Miroku managed to escape from his room, using spoons, bed sheets, and a hairnet. He delightedly sits next to Sango, much to her disgust. I take the ramen I made for dinner and place it on the table, thinking about how to keep the table from spontaneously combusting due to Sango's emotions.

"Mahmah, hee burrnt the Rahmen!" cries Souta. "Inuyasha izzn't a verry gud cook, iz hee, mahmah?"

I heard my name! I perk up, he must like my cooking!

I ladle a hearty spoonful into my mouth.

The ramen tastes...

Like crap.

No. It tastes like crap dipped in a pile of sawdust, thrown into a polluted river, dried off with sweaty old gym socks, then sautéed in a vomit sauce. I spit it out and remind myself NEVER to cook again.

_"This is good, Inuyasha."_ signs Kagome, looking as if she might gag. _"Really... yummy."_

The rest of the table looks at her as if she had a third leg growing out of the top of her head.

I take the pot of Ramen and dump it into the sink.

_"Dinner's postponed."_ I sign in despair, _"I need to review the instructions."_

Aha! Maybe I shouldn't have added chili peppers, ketchup, AND 'Sugar O's' breakfast cereal to the flavor packet, then cooked it for forty minutes.

_"Want some help?"_ asks Kagome after my other guests disperse.

I nod helplessly. She must think me such a fool. I can't even cook ramen!

_"Here."_ she signs, _"Let's put some water to boil."_

You use water? I thought you put it in the deep fryer!

_"Now we add the noodles."_ she signs, smiling at me once the water boils.

_"I guess I'm useless at cooking."_

_"It's ok,"_ she signs, smiling, _"It's hard!"_

I smile at her...

And she smiles back.

_"Oh look, it's ready!"_ she signs, her magical smile still on her face.

_"I'd better test it to make sure it's not poison."_ I sign, grinning.

She nods, and I take a noodle out of the pot...

It's delicious.


	13. Thunder Coffee

Kay. I actually have a valid explination for why this wasn't posted on the weekend.

My internet died.

I'm posting this at school where the internet is still alive.

No replies. I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love and Hugs!

-sugarsprite-

* * *

Water hits my closed eyes, and I blink them drowsily. It's an early morning rain shower. Damn it. I try and roll over, to avoid the unpleasant wetness, but fail. Rain manages to soak my pajamas through, so I pull up the sleeping bag around me, but then I feel like a fish in an oven, the thermo-heat sleeping bag keeping in all my body heat and making me unbearably hot. If I remove the sleeping bag, I'll get wet and die of pneumonia. If I keep it on, I'll die of heatstroke. A lose-lose situation. Just perfect. The story of my life.

I roll out of bed, so tired I feel like I've been hit repeatedly by a brick with sharp iron spikes. I don't believe it's physically possible for any normal teen to actually enjoy waking up in the morning. It's not in our nature. I, personally, MUCH prefer to wake up around noon. But it seems I've deeply insulted someone up above, as usual.

I rummage around for the exterior parts of my implant to protect it from water damage, and slump inside, dragging my feet and feeling like the living dead. I flop onto the couch, hoping to catch a few thousand more 'Z's. I almost do too, my eyes closing, my head falling into that meditative state, my body completely relaxed...

**Thump.**

**Thump.**

**Thump.**

Why does someone have to come downstairs now?! And why do I have to feel it? GAH.

**Reason # 645 why I want to be a 'Hearing':** NO GODDAM VIBRATIONS WAKING YOU UP AT SIX O'CLOCK IN THE FREAKING MORNING!!!

I open my eyes groggily. It's Kagome, looking vaguely guilty for arousing me. _"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"_ she asks, looking exhausted but apologetic, her hands moving slowly and haphazardly.

_"I was already awake,"_ I lie, _"What're you doing up so early anyways?"_

_"The sound of the storm woke me."_

I nod affirmatively.

_"Hey,"_ she signs, the shifty look on her face changing the tone and murdering an awkward pause, _"Do you like coffee?"_

Coffee.

The magic word. The elixir of life. Who needs a holy relic, who needs religion when you're got COFFEE?!

I nod happily. _"Do you want me to make some?_" I ask.

The eager smile on her face vanishes. I can tell she's remembering my antics with the ramen noodles last night.

_"Or would you prefer for us both to do it?"_

The smile returns and she makes a fist and bobs it up and down repeatedly, the sign for 'yes.' I notice she keeps it nodding for longer than needed for me to understand.

_"Or would you prefer to make it yourself?"_

She smiles delightedly, _"That would be wonderful, Inuyasha!" _she bustles into the kitchen.

I grin and put my implant on my head, switching it on.

**BOOM.**

I jump about five feet into the air. Where did that noise come from?! Is the house collapsing? Is there a tsunami in the lake? Have the dinosaurs returned? Are we being attacked? Are we all going to die?!

I have to save Kagome from the danger!!

_"Quick!! To the bomb shelter!!"_ I sign at her rapidly, grabbing her at the waist, tossing her over my shoulder and pulling her down the convenient hatch in the floor of the kitchen.

_"Emergency brake positions!"_ I sign to her once we're veritably safe, _"hands over your head, now!"_

**BOOM.**

Just in time. We could have died...

But my other guests!

Sango...

Miroku...

Dr. Higurashi...

Souta... Kikyo...

They're gone now, the poor, poor things. The house was flattened, probably.

I clutch at Kagome as _the danger_ makes its terrible noise again.

_"What, exactly are you doing?"_ asks Kagome, looking extremely puzzled.

_"Don't you hear it?"_ I reply, _"I saved your life!"_

_"What?!"_ she replies, _"How did you save my life?"_

_"I saved you from that thing that's attacking us!"_

_"What?!!"_

_"That noise!"_

**BOOOOOOM!!**

I make a pathetic little cry and bury my head in Kagome's lap. If we weren't about to be ripped apart by whatever has it in for us, I would be both mortified and excited by my position...

_"You're afraid of the thunder?"_ asks Kagome, trying not to laugh but failing, succeeding in making throaty spluttering noises.

_"Thunder?"_

**BOOM.**

I make a noise I've never heard myself utter before, something like, "Eeeeks!"

She's no longer attempting to conceal her laughter.

_"Is this the first time you've heard a thunderstorm?"_ she asks, quizzically.

I nod.

_"IT'S NORMAL, INUYASHA."_

I cock my head to one side, surely such horrible noise as this wouldn't be 'normal.'

_"Is it aliens? Have they possessed you?"_ I ask, concerned as another paranoid thought fills my head.

_"No."_ she signs.

Ah. From the look she's giving me, I guess that it's not aliens.

Maybe I'd better be subservient for a while.

_"Are you sure there's no danger?"_

_"Positive."_

I follow her up the hatch. To my astonishment, the house is still intact, and everything is pretty much normal.

**BOOM.**

I jump again.

_"Oh Inuyasha, you're really just one big baby, aren't you?"_

I grin embarrassedly._ "Sorry."_

_"Oh look!"_ she signs, going over to the coffee machine, _"It's ready. I assume you want yours black, right?"_

I nod. God, I'm dumb. I'm really dumb.

I take my coffee and slurp it down. Mmm. Caffeine. It sort of dulls the pain of humiliation.

_"Inuyasha?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Why do you have a bomb shelter in your kitchen?"_

Oh... that.

_"It's a long story."_ I sign, smiling, _"My father's a little paranoid."_

We both laugh for a little longer than we should.

"You know, Inuyasha," she signs, sipping her coffee, _"You're kinda cute when you're frightened out of your wits."_

_"Thanks... I think..."_

So she thinks I'm an idiot. I'm CUTE!!!

Damn.

I'm cute.

_"I don't want to be cute!"_ I sign, vehemently.

_"Well, how about pathetic? Do you prefer that?"_

_"...no."_

_"Oh well... you're pathetic-ness is cute."_

I try to put on a very insulted face.

_"Hey, do you want to watch some early morning crap TV?"_ I ask, hopefully after sulking for about thirty seconds.

_"Sure, why not?" _she signs, _"the normal population won't wake up until at least ten."_

_"We have three and a half hours."_ I smile, _"Why don't we get to it?"_

_"I'll make more coffee."_


	14. Nudists and Musicals

**To the various people who've asked:** I do know someone who is deaf actually. Her name is Erica, she's deaf with an implant and she is awesome!!!

**Moonlit Shadow4:** I've heard of your story!!! Of course, I can't read it, because it's rated 'R' and this computer has settings such that I can't go onto websites with any swear words on it. Some of my E-MAIL has been blocked on this accursed monster. I read some of it at school Secretly while I was supposed to be researching Buddhist myths and "On a Leash" was great... I got to about chapter seven, then my teacher almost caught me so I closed the window... sorry!!!

**Kagome's Wish:** I know that just because Inuyasha's deaf doesn't mean he can't speak, but a bunch of deaf people just haven't had the opportunity to learn. Plus the plot bunnies tell me to do. OBEY THE PLOT BUNNIES!

**Random Reason why I'm a happy camper:** I went to Suncoast Video yesterday to pick up the second volume of Mermaid Saga _(Sooo... Good....)_ noticed they have the first season of Inuyasha in a boxed set... I was drooling. Literally. Such a pity it was $119. _(To all of you who personally know me... CHRISTMAS/BIRTHDAY PRESENT. Is that subtle enough for ya?)_ I was examining Pretear after I stopped sobbing hysterically over the price, and a girl snuck in front of me to look at Ranma ½ and we sort of collided.

Me: "Heh. Sorry. I was in my Anime Zen mode. I'm waaay to obsessed."

Her: Yeah, me too. Gotta get my _Ranma ½_ fix.

Me: I love Takahashi! I like spend entire days writing Inuyasha fanfiction!

Her: do you use ?

Me: Yep! Do you?

Her: Yup! I'm Artemis _(... short... attention... span...GAH. If you're reading this, tell me who you are!!)_

Me: I'm sugarsprite... lame name... I know...

Her: Really? My friend read one of your fics!

(Spazzes) I love the world!!!!! Someone I've never met has heard of me!!! (Calms down and lets you guys read the flippin' story)

Sorry it's so late...

Enjoy!

* * *

**Click**

**Click**

**Click.**

Nothing's on. Just tellytubbies and infomercials.

**Click**

**Click**

**Click**

Kagome returns, holding two more steaming mugs of black coffee. I grin up at her from the couch.

"_Anything good on TV?"_ she signs after putting the mugs onto a pile of my mother's fashion magazines.

**Click**

**Click**

**Click**

I shake my head no. A decided no. _"Kagome?"_ I ask, _"Do you know how to set the captions?"_

"_Yes,"_ she replies, _"I do it for a kid I baby sit." _She smiles at the mention of the child. I decide to talk about that, instead of revisiting the fact that I'm still scared of the 'BOOM' of 'thunder' that appears every few minutes.

"_Why does he use captions?"_ I ask. Pretty lame conversation opener, but then again we're not exactly socially adept.

_S_he smiles again, _"He's the cutest!!! He's deaf with an implant, so he needs SAP captions. You should meet him! He's called Shippo."_

"_Yeah, that would be... sweet."_ I sign, trying to regain my image with Kagome as an uber-cool ice god.

I pass her the remote and she fiddles with it until little black misspelled captions appear at the bottom of the TV.

I bring my hand down from my lips. _"Thank you."_

"_You're welcome,"_ she signs, the remote sitting on her lap...

Wait a second there...

That's MY remote control. MINE.

I poorly disguise a scowl as she flips through the channels **_I_** should be flipping through. **Click. **She flips past the sports channel, Playing the WTWC, World Thumb Wrestling Championships **Click. **The home decorating channel, Playing 'The Wondrous World of Wallpaper' **Click. **and the hospital channel, Playing 'Plastic Surgery: How My Boob Job Changed My Life'

At least Kagome doesn't want to watch this crap.

She stops at a movie channel. It's at commercials. I twiddle my thumbs impatiently, trying to show my annoyance to Kagome without actually telling her.

"And now" says the announcer, with me reading the captions at the bottom of the screen, "It's 7:00 A.M... and it's time for our daily MUSICAL!!!"

I cock my head in confusion... a musical... I've seen those! They're really dumb!!!

A bunch of hills and mountains and churches and quaint European towns fill the screen. I make no attempt to hide my scowl now. I sink deep into the folds of the couch, my hands crossed over my chest in with a killer look on my face.

A stupid looking woman is twirling herself around on top a big mountain. Just as I'm getting ready to wrestle the remote out of Kagome's hands and change it back to tellytubbies, when the woman opens her mouth and begins to make a strange noise with her mouth, not unlike the music I hear when my mother listens to the radio.

I jump. Kagome wrenches her eyes from the screen. _"What?"_

"_What is she doing!??!"_ I ask in horror. The noise is sort of trilling, like the noise birds make, but less high pitched and much more annoying.

"_She's singing!"_

"..."

"_What's wrong with her singing?"_ Kagome asks, her eyes dangerous.

"_There's nothing wrong with it... I just thought you only found those sounds on the radio... or the beginnings of movies."_

"_You've never heard anyone sing before?"_

I pause to think for a moment. I don't think I have... I haven't been watching that much television... only sports and a few movies with the captions on and the volume barely loud enough for me to remember that I can hear it.

"_Not properly."_

She smiles pityingly, _"Listen to this, then."_ She puts the volume all the way up.

Though I don't really understand what the blonde woman is singing, I must admit the sound of her voice is pretty.

We watch in silence for a while, the captions carrying me along plot-wise, every few minutes taking a great swig of coffee to keep from dying of sleep-deprivation.

**BOOM.**

I jump. Though I resist the urge to run to the bomb shelter again, Kagome notices the look on my face. She crumples into silent laughter, then pats my hand comfortingly. _"It is loud." _she signs kindly, _"It's just... the look on your face..."_

I give her what I hope is an endearing smile. She turns back to the television and I join her in watching a large musical number.

**Thump. Thump. Thump. **

I look around to see a rumpled looking Miroku and Sango coming downstairs, holding hands. They both jump when they see Kagome and me sitting on the couch, dropping each others hands as though they just realized what they were doing.

"What're you doing here?" we all sign or say at the same time.

"_We're watching a movie."_

Miroku raises an eyebrow. _"Right."_ He sulkily sits next to us, apparently very put out.

"_Are you learning words from watching this, Inuyasha?"_ signs Sango, not bothering to speak.

"_I guess." _I sign. The woman on the screen says something as she's dragged into a pit of evil wild animals,_ "What does that mean then?" _I ask out of pure curiosity.

"_Help." _

"_That makes sense."_

We watch as the woman kicks her assailants **down there**, all the while singing an inspirational song about empowerment. I snort indignantly. Like **that **would ever happen.

**Thump. Thump. Thumpity thumpy thumpthump.**

Souta comes running downstairs, closely followed by Kikyo and Dr. Higurashi.

He's completely and utterly naked.

Kagome jumps up, a look of pure terror and anguish on her face. She grabs her empty mug and one of my mother's magazines, then joins her family members in chasing the giggling little boy around the room.

She finally snatches him by a bony little elbow, then covering him up as well as she can with the magazine and coffee mug, she hands the struggling little boy to her furious mother.

I laugh so hard I nearly wet my pants.

Kagome curls herself up in a nearby armchair and pretends to be a cushion.

Still in stitches of laughter, I get up from the couch and walk over to where Kagome is in an embarrassment-induced coma.

"_I'll...kill...him." _she signs as soon as she regains enough composure to use sign language.

"_We're even then." _I declare, _"You have you're little brother to your credit, I have the... thunder."_

She grins up at me, _"Deal."_

I laugh to myself, then decide to be a host. When the Dr. Higurashi and Kikyo return, having licked Souta in the bathroom, I get up from the couch.

"_Who wants breakfast?"_

In less than five seconds flat, the room is empty. I suppose I really shouldn't cook anymore.


	15. Kouga!

Hey everyone...

I know it's been an absurdly long time since I last updated, and I'm sorry. School has taken over, and I hate everything. But good news! I have the first Inuyasha movie on DVD and have watched everything. (In English, Japanese, and all the special features) I've also seen the second movie, and I love them!

And my birthday is coming up! I'm gonna be a whole year older, and it's gonna be great, because I'm gonna get Gravitation on DVD and the world will be wonderful!

You know what? I have to say that I love everyone who has commented on this story, and the ones who are just reading this and not saying anything. I've had sort of a tough year this time around in the real world, and it's always felt so good to have friends who I don't know to fall back on. And every little thing you guys have said has made me smile, from having "Continue" written five hundred times to one of those smiles you find prevailing all over this website. Thank you so much. It really helps when you're down to know that some things I create are liked.

Sorry for the absurdly long A/N. I know you just want to read one of my evilly short chapters, so go ahead.

Love and Hugs!

Sugarsprite.

* * *

"_That was great, Dr. Higurashi." _I sign after finishing the sumptuous breakfast the older woman prepared.

"Thanks!" cries Sango.

I jump up. I just **understood** what she said! She said in sign language: bring your hand down from your mouth!

_"What is it, Inuyasha?"_

_"I," _I take a moment to collect myself, as I'm moving my hands about in such a disorganized way that no one can understand what I'm trying to say._ "I just understood that thing!!"_

_"What thing?"_ asks Miroku, cocking his head to the side.

_"That thank you thing!!!"_

_"What?"_

Sango grins, _"Did you just understand the word..."_ she stops signing and actually says, "Thanks?"

I nod, bouncing around the small kitchen.

"Great, Inuyasha!" I see Kagome sign.

Dr. Higurashi points to me, "You," she signs and says at the same time, "Shoo. Out of the kitchen. You'll break things."

I obey her. I make it my policy to always obey women yielding spatulas.

I pad outside of the western-style summer house and flop on the beach next to the house, getting sand in my hair...

**Kkchhhhhhhthhhsnnnnssss**

Uh oh... that doesn't sound good.

Looks like I got some sand in my implant.

Crap.

CRAP CRAP CRAP! I'M SO SCREWED!!! AHHHH!!!!!

I rip the implant off my head, making me literally deaf to the world again. I sit up, brushing the sand out of the life-changing machine. I'm about to put it back when I feel someone's vibrations coming down the beach. I stiffen, trying to figure out who it is without looking out at them.

**Tlump tlump tlump**

It's no use, I can't discern who it is. I look over my back to see Kagome padding along the shore.

She looks slightly surprised to find I knew someone was coming. I smile at her, and she smiles back.

"_Hey,"_ she signs, _"how are you doing?"_

"_Okay, but I think I might have gotten some sand in my implant."_

She grins. _"I know how to work with these things."_ She takes the machine out of my hands and fiddles with it.

I lean back onto my elbows, enjoying deafness. It's funny really. I had wanted so much to be normal, yet sometimes, all these sounds overwhelm me, to the point where I'm so inundated with noises I want to break the implant and go back to the old deaf me.

I smell the post-storm lake, the sand, myself, and Kagome's sweet, kitchen-y scent. These senses are natural. I understand what smell, and sight, and touch, and taste mean, and better than other people understand theirs. Hearing gives me a headache.

"_You know what, Kagome, leave it."_

"_What?"_

"_Leave the implant. I think I'll go deaf for the day."_

She looks surprised, _"Are you sure?" _

I grin, _"Yes."_

Kagome smiles, _"I like you deaf. I can have you all to myself."_

"_Want to go for a walk?" _I ask her, hopefully.

She nods.

Hopefully I can take this little escapade as an excuse to find some way to kiss her.

* * *

As we walk along the softly lit path, I go over the plan in my head. We'll walk to the clearing near the Gods Tree, I'll help her climb the tree, then, when we reach the top, and we're sitting in the dappled light with the fresh breeze that comes after a storm blowing in her ebony locks, I'll kiss her. And our first kiss will be glorious, a movie star kiss that makes most teenaged girls squeal with delight when they see it on cassette.

Kagome stops moving alongside me.

"_What is it?"_ I ask, wondering if my little fantasy had somehow become apparent to her. Let's hope not.

"_Someone just said something."_

Now that it comes to my attention, I do think I sense someone.

"_What did they say?"_ I ask, confused.

"_It was more like laughter."_

"_That's really weird,_" I sign, a furrow forming on my brow, _"Do you want to go back?"_

"_Yeah, okay,"_ she also looks worried. The little attempts at romance can wait. We walk hurriedly through the woods, when someone dashes across the path.

Kouga?!

That bastard!

Kouga is the bane of my summer existence. The stupid jerk knows a little bit of sign language from summer courses and school things, which he learned for the sole purpose of tormenting me. He likes to call me things like, 'dog turd' and 'dog breath.' And the other signs he doesn't know, he fingerspell them out.

"_Yo, Puppy-boy!" _

There he goes, making fun of my name. It's not my freaking fault my stupid parents named me 'Dog-Demon,' after some ancestor from feudal Japan.

He comes up to me, his awful smell overpowering me for a while.

"_Do you not wash, or do you just stink like that naturally?" _I ask him, signing slowly and fingerspelling some words that he won't understand.

He ignores me and walks over to Kagome. MY Kagome.

He says something to her, which makes her face go all pink. How DARE he?!

"_This is a beautiful sister you hold there."_ he signs,_ "I want it."_

Kagome gives me a look, then signs behind his back, _"He's been slacking off in is sign language courses, hasn't he?"_

I laugh at her joke. _"Come on Kagome," _I sign "_let's go back."_

She and I walk by Kouga, ignoring him.

I wave over my shoulder. Kouga growls and runs up to us, but I give him such a bone chillingly fierce look that he runs off like a wounded puppy. Who's the dog turd now?


	16. Adventures, Watery and Otherwise

Hey! I'm back, after a whole month of being a total jerk and not updating! I am so sorry!

What can I say? That school was a total bugger? That I went away to England? That I had a social life for once?

And I also had a huge case of writer's block?

So, I apologize profusely. I am a worm.

On the other hand, this is a chapter where something happens!!! (woo)

* * *

I fall back onto the sand of the beach, careful to keep my head above the sand despite the fact that I don't have the implant. Habit, I guess. I feel Kagome flop beside me and I smile… she's so cute!

I feel like I'm being watched again. There's a strange smell on the air, not Kouga, not someone I know, a human smell, but unlike anything I've ever smelt before. I peer around. The sand has blustered itself into dunes, the sunlight glints off the rather large waves on the lake. The water sparkles rather flirtatiously, begging me to jump. I can't sense that presence again. I suppose I might have just made it up.

"_Hey Kagome, do you want to go back?"_ I ask her.

"_Sure, why?"_ she replies, dragging herself out of the sand.

"_I don't think we have enough food for lunch. I should buy some food."_

Kagome raises an eyebrow, _"I think I should go with you,"_ she signs, _"You would probably destroy it before we even got to cook it."_

"_Hey! You said you liked my cooking."_

"_I lied. It sucks."_

The remark stung, slightly, despite its truthfulness. I give her a look of puppy-dog sadness and she visibly melts.

"_Aww… I'm sorry."_

"_It's okay, Kagome!" _I sign, a chipper smile on my face. _"Come on, Let's go to a cafe!"_

"_A cafe?"_

"_I have a craving, and I know this really good place on the shores of this lake."_

I take her by her pretty wrist and lead her towards the dock and the boat. She protests and runs off to tell her mother about it, dashing to the house, leaving me in my silence.

I look at the implant I hold in my hand, and resist the urge to fling it into the lake. It's such an odd desire. I'm not used to all these sounds, but they're good, right? I look down at it in my hand. It seems so small and insignificant, yet it's changed my life...

Kagome touches my arm to alert me to her presence. Hah! As if I didn't feel her footsteps! I suppose she got permission, then. I look over at the lake, then turn to her.

"_Yo. Are you ready?"_

She nods, her black hair falling into her eyes.

We walk together on the dock, heading towards The Tesusaiga the speedboat my father gave me. She strokes the still shiny paint. _"It's really nice!"_ she tells me.

I bring my hand down from my lips, signing thanks. _"My brother really wants it… I still fight him over it sometimes."_

She laughs lightly, then tries to get into the boat.

"_No, let me help." _I sign, jumping into the Tesusaiga, and offering her my hand. She takes it, and for a moment we are connected. I feel a shiver of pleasure crawl up my spine. Her hand is soft, compared to mine. So soft… I wonder if her mouth…. No! Bad thoughts! STAY PURE!!!

I let go of her hand hastily, and I feel my cheeks redden. Goddam it! Why do I have to blush NOW?! I undo my long hair from its ponytail, shaking it into a curtain to cover my face. I brusquely turn to the controls and start the engine. Thank the gods I'm not wearing the implant. Such noises give me such a headache, and I don't want one of those accursed things just as I'm alone with Kagome.

She wanders to the front of the boat just as the engine's revving itself up, her hair whipped back by the wind, her knee length sundress dancing about her legs. God, she's hot. She sits down on one of the white cushions and leans over the edge of the bow, her slender fingers trailing in the water. I shake my head, trying to concentrate on the task at hand: Navigation.

Soon my hair is whipping about as much as Kagome's is. The trees flash past us, and our little speedboat merrily jumps over the small waves. I glance at her, and I notice her face is plastered with that radiant smile that is her trademark.

Kagome. I could think about her name forever and never get bored with it.

Kagome

Kagome

Kagome

Kagome

I've never heard it. I've never heard her name… well, I'm sure I've heard her name when I'm with her family, but the sounds have never registered, so I guess it doesn't count.

Kagome. I bet it's prettier than any other words I know.

I smell gasoline, which means we're near the dock by the town where the bagels are.I back the boat alongside it and shut off the engine. We're here. I jump out of the Tesusaiga, leaving her inside.

"_Can you toss me that rope?" _I ask her, pointing to a red plastic rope on the floor next to her.

She nods and throws it up to me. I tie it to a post standing on the dock. Kagome stands on the cushiony seat and attempts to get out of the boat.

Suddenly, she's in the water, spluttering and wet. Shit! I let go of the red rope and jump in after her. The water is moderately cold, but not too unpleasant. I swim over to her and grasp her hand again. This time it's not so romantic, it's more like, lets-get-you-out-of-this-dirty-dock-water-before-you-drown.

We swim through the water over to the Tesusaiga, and, grasping the ladder that goes off the back of the boat, she and I manage to escape the nasty, gasoline-smelling water.

Only now, the boat has drifted a little too far away from the dock to jump. I have the worst luck in the world.

I lean out over the water, being careful not to get wet, attempting to grasp the side of the wooden planks. With my other hand, I point Kagome over to a pile of towels. I grab the dock. The wood is slimy to the touch, slightly repulsing me. Nonetheless, I pull hard, and as soon as I can, I mount the dock, finish tying, and help Kagome out of the Tesusaiga.

She brings two towels with her, wrapping one around her and giving me one. We sit side by side for a moment, both wet and mortally embarrassed.

Suddenly she bursts out laughing, and though I can't hear it, I see her rocking back and forth with mirth, feel her beside me, and I can remember the sounds of it.

"_What?"_

"_It's just awkward!"_

I give her a little sarcastic smile. Her hair is wet, and damp tendrils fall into her face as she laughs. Ohhhh… She's reeeeeallly reaaaallly attractive.

"_Come on,"_ she signs, still laughing, _"Let's just go to that café place and get out of here."_

I toss my towel into the boat, and she copies me, then she follows me into the crush of people surrounding the dock. We walk quickly through the crowd and towards a little corner place.

When we get in there we have to wait ten minutes just to look at the different foods.

A pale woman with dark hair and red contact lenses opens her mouth to ask us something. She wears a reddish uniform and a nametag that says, **"HI! My name is _Kagura! _Welcome to Kanna's Café!"**

"_Do you sign?"_ I ask.

Kagura gives me the 'Ohmygod-it's-a-handicapped-freak-who-doesn't-understand-anything' look.

I take out the wet notebook Kagome gave me when I was recovering from my implant and write with a pen I find somewhere in my pockets:

I think for a moment, then look down through the display case. **"Two chocolate chip cookies, please."**

Kagura looks at my chicken scratch handwriting then takes the pen and writes **"That will be 720 yen, please"** Her handwriting is very precise and small. She takes out the bread and the cookies and puts them in a paper bag.

I dig through my pockets and realize I don't have my wallet with me. I pick up the pen and write, **"My name is Inuyasha Taisho, and I have not got money with me. Charge my father. Here is his address." **I write his address down on the paper.

She looks up at me, eyes bulging. My father's fame does have some uses.

Kagura looks at me swiftly, as if trying to memorize my features. She hands over the bag, then takes the paper and puts it into the register.

Kagome and I find a small table next to a window, where we sit down to eat our cookies. They're still warm, and they are delicious.

Kagome stands, after finishing her cookie. _"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll be right back,"_ she signs.

She walks over to the counter, where she takes a napkin and writes something down, presumably to Kagura. Kagura points off somewhere that I can't see.

She walks out of the room, leaving me with my cookie and the streets to look at. I see cars drive by, a couple walk by the window, holding hands and laughing. I suppose this could count as a date between me and Kagome.

Nah. If it were a date, it would be severely less awkward.

I finish the cookie, and then realize how thirsty I am. Walking up to the counter, and notice that Kagura is no longer there. Strange… but I guess she just had the end of her shift. I see a young preteen boy manning the counters.

"_Do you have something to drink?"_ I ask, forgetting that the kid won't understand sign language.

The kid lights up, then very clumsily and slowly signs, _"I… learn…sign!" _He is small, with his hair in a tiny ponytail. An overabundance of freckles dot his cheeks and nose. His nametag tells me his name is Kohaku.

I smile at him, encouragingly. I make the simple sign for _"Drink."_

He looks confused for a moment, then understanding makes him light up as he runs to the sink to bring me a plastic glass of tap water. He the signs _"Thank you!"_ and continues his work.

I turn to the table where Kagome and I sat. She's still not there. I sit back down, and after taking a sip of the water, I dip my finger into it and begin to doodle in water on the black counter of the table. First it's just random lines that I'm doodling, then the lines evolve into a tree. The tree has almost taken up the entire table when I happen to glance up at the clock. It's been twenty minutes since she left.

That's a long time, but sometimes bad things happen in the bathroom.

I wait another few minutes, examining the other customers. Finally I get the nerves to get up and knock on the bathroom door. The door is strangely unmarked, unlike most bathrooms, but it's the only door near where Kagome pointed off. I wait another moment awkwardly by the door, then knock again, and again a few seconds later. I feel no vibrations coming from inside the place.

Finally I just grasp the doorknob and push.

It doesn't lead to a bathroom. It leads outside. I look around, confused.

And that's when something very hard connects with my head. I crumple to the ground, noticing a pair of black boots before I lose complete consciousness.


	17. Duct tape and Revelations

Hello readers!

I'm not dead:waves arms:

Well, I should be dead. I ought to die for leaving you with such a nasty cliffhanger and not updating for more than a month.

But we have to celebrate

:hands out fake champagne:

I've hit 800 reviews.

:bursts:

Do you know how much I utterly adore all of you? Eh? EH?

:hands out candy, cookies, fuzzy animals, and lots of love:

Okay. Story. Here we go!

We're in the final stretch… I can't see this fic going past 25 chapters… so we're almost done, my little lovemuffins!

sugarsprite-

* * *

Wow. My head feels like someone just hit it with a rock.

Which isn't much of a surprise.

There's tape over my eyes. My hands are handcuffed to each other, and I seem to be lying on something soft. A bed maybe?

I sniff the air before moving. I have a rather good sense of smell, from having to rely on it for all those years when I had nothing but my nose and eyes and brain and hands.

I smell blood, my own blood, probably from the wound I received how long ago? An hour? A day? A week, even?

I sniff again, going around the metallic blood smell, seeing if I can smell someone else's breath or their scent.

There's someone in here… next to me…

I stiffen, before realizing that it's Kagome and not some mysterious attacker.

I move slowly, cautiously, realizing my incapacitated hands are not only handcuffed, but chained to something, a rod or a bedpost or something rather sturdy. But at least I can move.

The first thing I think of is getting this stupid tape off of my face. I don't intend on impersonating Helen Keller. Deaf and blind _really_ isn't my style.

I claw at the tape. It's really well stuck to my face, hurting when I pull at it. I work at getting a hold of it and pulling, slowly and cautiously, in a way that'll cause the least pain possible. No good. I can feel every facial hair being ripped off. With one effort I pull quickly and rip the monster from my face.

…

Ow….

There's very little light in the room, but I am still blinking and squinting. First things first: I examine the tape. My tiny facial hairs cover it, and a few eyebrow hairs and eyelashes are there too. Massaging my face, I look around.

The room is bleak, gray, cement. I'm chained to a pole in the southernmost corner of the room. There are no windows. The dim light comes from a flickering florescent strip up on the ceiling, with two parts of it burnt out and the last one seeming to be well on its way to burning out itself.

So this is what its like to be kidnapped.

Its funny, I'd always imagined it would be more frightening. More painful. Like, having my ear cut off and put into a plastic bag to send back to my father.

My hand grasps my ear… maybe that's what's next.

I sigh and look about once more. I don't need my ears much anyways.

There's a table across the room from where I'm sitting with two plates of bread and cheese and two glasses of water. There's a slot next to the table where assumedly, food is pushed through. Above the bolt in the middle of the room, is a camera, in one of those little black orbs you see in malls and banks. A red door, bolted from the outside, seems to be the way we were carried in.

We.

Kagome.

I'm an idiot not to look at her first.

She lies delicately on the bed next to me, her black hair streaming across the bare mattress, eyes covered with duct tape as mine were covered, hands bound together by the handcuffs near her face. Her breath comes slowly and smells metallic. I notice a stain of dried blood running from a gash on her scalp down into the duct tape.

I haltingly put a hand on her shoulder. She jumps, apparently not as asleep as I thought. I let my other hand find hers, and I squeeze her hand. She knows my touch, and visibly relaxes.

I help her to sit up and remove the duct tape over her eyes. She blinks, rubs her eyes, and looks around. I feel compelled to talk to her, though there is very little to say.

"_Are you alright?" _I ask, looking at the cut on her forehead.

She nods, _"I'm fine. Are you okay?"_

"_Yeah. Just a bonk on the head and a bit groggy."_

She leans back on the bed, _"So… now what?"_

I steal a glance at the camera. _"Do you think they understand sign language?"_

She scowls, apparently brooding over something I have no idea about, her pretty bloodstained brow furrowing in a pensive frown. _"They understand a little."_ She glares at the camera and lifts her middle finger up at it. Universal sign language there. Then she signs slowly enough for a hearing person with little knowledge of signing to understand, _"Thank you, N-a-r-a-k-u."_

"_Naraku?"_ I mimic the letters her fingers formed while spelling the name. _"Who's he?"_

She puts her head in her hand, cradling her face which has changed from an angry face to a mournful one. _"Kikyo's ex boyfriend."_

"_What?"_ I ask, astounded, _"You know this bastard who kidnapped us?"_

She nods miserably. _"You know how she sort of flirted with you a lot just before we all got to know each other?"_

How could I forget? I nod yes, not quite understanding where this is all going.

"_Well, we had moved here from Kyoto a couple of years ago, right before we started the clinic. It was her first real time out meeting people since we came here. You see, when she was in Kyoto, she had this boyfriend." _She looks up at the camera, then turns her back to it, and continues, _"He was like, five years older than her, and he was a real psycho."_ She signs erratically, with small gestures near her chest so the camera won't be able to see what she's saying. _"His name was Naraku, and she thought the world of him at first. Kikyo really, really loved him…but he was crazy. He would hit her and accuse her of doing all these things and eventually, she had to break it off. But he wouldn't accept that as an answer…" _she stops her rather intriguing story. _"Did I ever tell you the real reason I don't talk anymore?"_

Huh? I'm confused. I shake my head, and then sign with a question on my face, _"I thought it was a car accident."_

"_It wasn't."_ she signs, her eyes not meeting mine, _"I…" _She breaks off.

While I watch, she extends a finger and scrapes at the side her pretty neck. Off comes a bandage-type thing, and, as she pulls at it, I see a part of Kagome I've never seen before.

There's a long, distinctive scar across her neck. Something that's too even to have been caused by an accident. It was a horrible wound. A terrible hurt. The scar is still vivid and red and angry. It goes all the way from one side of her neck to the other. I catch my breath, and she flinches, as though showing the imperfection in her causes physical pain.

"_Kagome…" _I manage to sign, eyes wide, _"…Did he do that to you?"_

She nods, no longer defiant and angry, but upset and vulnerable. _"He did. It was meant to kill me, failed at that, but killed my vocal cords."_

"_Why did he do it to you, though?"_

She shrugs, _"He wouldn't do it to her. I think he might have blamed me for it."_ She gulps, and I see the awful mark on her neck move with her swallow. _"Anyways, he had me kidnapped and then had a henchman cut my throat and… they dumped me in a ditch next to the highway to die. I ended up ripping off part of my shirt and wrapping it around my neck... It was scary, losing so much blood… almost all the blood I had._" Her story seems to be an effort to tell, and her face is filled with sadness as she finishes,_ "I ended up crawling, half dead, to the road and someone saw me and called someone." _She looks at me, _"And now he's found us again…" _I look into her eyes, so full of fear, and feel myself melt. I had loved her before, fallen for her wit and grace and beauty… Now all I want to do is hold her and make sure she'll be alright.

I reach out with my handcuffed arms and pull her into me, letting my chain over her head so I can let my arms encircle her and comfort her and bring us together. She stiffens, shocked by what I have done, but after a moment I feel her shift her body so she lies in my arms and allows herself to be held.

I can't say anything to her, my hands are occupied with the embrace, but I hope she understands what I'm trying to say… that I care about her and am so sorry. I keep her in my arms for a while, almost comfortable, her handcuffed arms pressed into me, her head resting against my chest.

We break away after a while, and I see that she has tears in her eyes. There really isn't much to say, but she signs a _"Thank you."_

Boldly and cautiously at the same time, I lean close to her and kiss her on the forehead._ "I know there isn't much we can do in this situation,"_ I sign stiffly after I pull away, _"But I shall do my very best to protect you in whatever way I can."_

She gazes into my eyes, and again hers fill with tears, _"…I love you, Inuyasha." _She signs, looking at me with such mournful tenderness I feel my heart flutter, even in the awkwardness and bad placement of the whole situation.

Wait…

Wait…

Wait……..

What's going on here? Why am I so calm in this situation? What exactly did Kagome just sign?

Okay, so first she brought her fist with an extended pinky into her chest. _I._

Then she crossed her chained arms across her chest. _Love._

Then she pointed at something in my direction…. It could mean _You_, but then again, it could mean _Those handcuffs,_ or _that bedpost,_ or _that wall._

But the fact that she signed my name kind of indicates the first option.

Holy shit.

I resist the urge to tap dance all around the tiny room.

She loves me?

She… loves… me?

I mentally pinch myself. Dreaming shouldn't be ruled out as an option for what's going on.

Nope.

Reality.

She looks away, seemingly taking my complete surprise as an indicator that her feelings are not reciprocated…. They aren't. They're doubled.

"_I…" _I stop my signing, realizing she hasn't seen what I've been saying. I catch her eye, and try to smile as I sign, _"I love you too."_

Her eyes light up and we hug again.

…It's really, really hard to hug when you're wearing handcuffs.

But still…

Despite the fact that we're handcuffed, in a strange room far away from what I'm used to, kidnapped, and probably facing mortal peril in the next few days, despite all that…

I'm on cloud nine.

How messed up is that?


	18. Bathrooms, Ideas, and Some Lame Flirtati...

Mmm... Hello.

I have no idea why I'm updating this… I'm in a musical at my school in a week and I should be working on homework or something instead of writing.

Ah well. I'm a slacker. What can I say.

And it's late, so I'm going to keep the a/n to a minimum.

So yeah. Enjoy her. And have a great day… night… afternoon… morning… whatever. Have a great whenever-you're-reading-this, you great person you.

Sugarsprite.

* * *

Cloud nine can't last long when you're stuck in a small room with no idea what your fate shall be. 

She sleeps with her head on my chest. Her hair smells faintly of shampoo, and she makes a warm spot on my shirt. She looks almost relaxed as she sleeps, almost peaceful.

The lights flicker, but show no signs of turning off. I suppose our keeper wants to watch us and make sure we don't escape… something that seems impossible to me. I close my eyes and sigh.

What am I going to do?

I wrack my mind, sorting through all the kidnapping movies I've seen, all the stories I've read, all the newspaper articles I've poured over. They all amount to nothing.

I'm going to die, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I stroke Kagome's hair, bringing up my handcuffed wrists, one hand touching Kagome's dark locks, the other brushing against the side of my head.

My head really hurts. It kind of reminds me of when I got the implant, except on a different place on my head, and more I-was-hit-with-a-blunt-object-y rather than I-had-electrodes-implanted-in-my-skull-after-doctors-cut-me-open-y.

Oh my.

This wounded skull of mine may still have ideas yet.

What I'm going to do reminds me of Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs; though I like to think that I'm not a deranged psychopathic sociopath who eats people.

I move slightly in my great agitation, and somehow manage to rouse a sleepy eyed Kagome. She yawns, smiles, realizes where she is, then winces.

"_Kagome!"_

She focuses her pretty eyes on me, _"Yes?"_

"_I've got an idea."

* * *

_

There is no toilet in our cell. The next morning brings a creep into our little concrete prison, who holds a note card in his hand, reading '**Toilet.**' in dodgy handwriting. His face shows us exactly what he means, "Come to the bathroom, you little bastards, and you'd better do what I say."

I follow him, boring a hole into his back with my eyes. Kagome is left in the room, waiting for him to return with me so she can go.

I am wary. '**Toilet.**' could mean toilet, but then again, it could also mean '**Firing Squad.**' He leads me to a men's bathroom, however, and stands over and watches while I pee.

This isn't going anywhere. I gesture at the stall, indicating I might have to do the other kind. He scowls, but nods. I go into the tiny cubicle and close the door.

I remove the receiver from behind my ear and scratch at it with my fingernails. The backing of it falls off without too much difficulty. I pull out all the wires and things, and, after taking all the useful things I need, I place the wires, bits of metal, and electronic equipment in my mouth, fix the plastic parts of the receiver and replace it on my ear and flush the toilet.

He leads me back into the room, and Kagome exits with him while I turn my back to the camera.

I have a way to get out, and it's definitely in my mouth right now. Silently I spit the foul tasting metal into my palm, fiddling with the pieces. Urgh. I don't believe I'm touching this.

I play with the metal in my hands until I have it the way I want it, then replace it in the plastic backing of the hearing aid just as Kagome reenters.

We wait for our captor to leave the room. He's got a rather unsightly stain on his butt.

"_Did you do it?"_ she signs, back to camera.

I nod, and stretch out on the bed. I yawn and curl into a ball on the bed. I want to sleep. I want to sleep. I want to sleep.

Kagome lies down beside me, flicking her hair back from her face as she makes a sleepy face and unconsciously brushes my chest with the back of my hand.

Darn it. Now I don't want to sleep.

It's hard not to, especially since I spent most of last night thinking and worrying. Kagome closes her eyes and relaxes her face.

I'll do the same. Just close your eyes, Inuyasha, and it won't be too hard to visit the land of nod.

But she's so cute when she sleeps…

I steal a glance at her. Her eyes open at the same instant. We both shut our eyes quickly, embarrassed.

I wait a good long time before opening my eyes again.

Her skin… it's so clear and pale… and her nose is so sweet… and her eyelashes are so long and fluttery…

She opens her eyes again, and I'm caught up with the perfection of her eyes. We don't close ours this time, but look at each other until some sort of unconscious agreement is reached and we both shut our eyes at the exact same time.

Gawd she's cute.

What am I thinking? I'm NOT supposed to be attracted to a stupid girl when I'm lying on an uncomfortable camp bed, expecting to face a deadly foe in a very short amount of time. I'm such a stupid boy! What am I doing, thinking about kissing at a time like this!

I look at her again, promising myself it will be the last time I do for this morning.

Then I close my eyes and doze for a while.

…

…

**Thump.**

**Thump.**

**Thump.**

I have no idea how long I have been asleep. I dreamed of playing monopoly with a rather large turtle on a chessboard. But I know now that someone is coming. I automatically shut my eyes tighter than they already are and feign sleep.

I feel them through the floor, feel the door opening, feel them walking about the cell; smell the sweat on their bodies, the leather in their jackets, the blood in their veins. I sense them stop next to the bed, smell the sharp odor of duct tape newly pulled off the roll, feel, with familiarity, the duct tape reconnect with my face, over my eyes. They unlock my handcuffs and tape my wrists together.

Kagome writhes on the bed, obviously awake. She fights the men… I immediately remember my promise and worry about whether or not she's safe with these men about. I roll over on top of her, making sure they keep off.

I think they're laughing at me.

They separate us, and I feel myself being thrown uncomfortably over someone's shoulder. I smell Kagome nearby. At least they're not doing things to her.

The person (I assume he's a man from the size of his shoulders, but one can rarely tell) jolts me about, and their collar bone sticks out into my gut. By the ascension I feel, I assume we are going up stairs, then all of a sudden they stop for a brief moment, then I think we might be outside, then I know we are from the scent of the air.

The person stops and waits for a moment, then I am thrust into a tight space that has a rough exterior and smells of beer and gasoline. I think it is the trunk of a car. Kagome is thrust unceremoniously on top of me, then I feel a sharp vibration that I take to be the slamming of the trunk.

The thugs open doors to the car. By the slight shift of weight in the vehicle I can tell they're entering the car, then by the shaking I can tell they have closed the doors.

The engine starts up.

We begin to move.

Whatever the mortal peril is… we don't have to wait for it anymore.

Because it's here.


	19. Some Good Exercise

Hello, fanfictionmuffins! I'm glad you're still reading this.

You know what's weird? It's been more than a year sinceI started writing The Sound of Her Voice. Funny huh? And it's still not done. See what a nice writerI am. :sigh:

So, to all of those who asked, I was in the musical Crazy For You, and I played Junior, (the spunky cowgirl with about seven lines. Wanna hear some? Oh you know you do. Okay well, the best ones are, "Talk about an excitin' day," "He's still sorta shaky," and, my personal favorite, "I just don't have the energy." The story of my life. I'm an awful person.)

So, lets see if we can make it to a thousand reviews this time::is bowled over bythe support for her story:

Thank you! I never thought so many of you would like my work::huge grin:

The Sound of Her Voice is almost over. This saddens me. But hey, do any of you think you'd be interested in reading another fic of mine? I've got a cool plot bunny. Next chapter I'm going to send you a link to a sneak preview of **Caged Beasts**, a story who has been living in my head for a while now.

Mmmkay I think it's time for the new chapter now.

Thanks!

* * *

The trunk smells like blood. Our blood. I'm beginning to get really really sick of that dumb smell. It's been filling my nostrils for the past however-long-we've-been-stuck-here.

I fiddle with the duct tape around my wrists but to no avail. I am frustrated. I can't help feeling despair at this time, but the soft warmth that is Kagome lying next to me cheers me up a little. I nudge her, and suddenly I feel something.

Her slender fingers fiddling about with my earpiece.

I grin. Kagome is so clever. She is blind now, with the duct tape over her eyes, and mute, with the noises of the car to distract her, and she is working with her wrists so tight together, yet she still opens the casing of the plastic transmitter and takes out our secret weapon. She starts working on the duct tape on her own wrists with the metal contraption in her mouth.

Every moment is painstaking. I can feel each fiber of tape breaking apart, but soon the dent is large enough to rip, and rip she does, the freeing her hands. Soon she finds my entrapped wrists, and in moments she has freed me too. I rip the tape from my eyes and begin to work on freeing my feet.

I have barely released myself when the car slows and stops. My fingers grope and I find Kagome's hand, and we wait and prepare for our escape.

Our assailants open their doors.

Our bodies tense, teeth clench.

They leave the car and walk around the back to open the trunk.

We are blinded as daylight reaches our dark-accustomed eyes, but we spring from the car and run as fast as we can, pushing past our kidnappers.

The ground shakes. They chase us, but we dart back and forth between trees. They have guns too, but the trees take most of the metal, and those with guns do not want to hurt their comrades. Pushing all my being into running, I pull Kagome ahead with all the strength I can muster. I run and run and run, but we still do not lose them.

Something comes shattering through my left arm, and I scream high enough that I can faintly hear it. Pain ricochets everywhere, and I feel myself slow down, almost allowing myself to be captured.

But Kagome saves us again. She darts through a cluster of bushes, thorns grazing our faces, and we see our salvation.

A well. An old, decrepit well made of old wood and stones, it could be hundreds of years old, hidden by a huge briar. We run as fast as we can to it.

We jump.

Kagome lands first and I next, alongside her.

I clasp my arm and lie in the mud, panting. Kagome listens to the men.

We wait.

We are not found. Relief fills my bones as time passes, ten minutes, twenty, thirty, an hour.

"_We did it!"_ Kagome signs after a while, _"Inuyasha, you saved us"_

I grimace and shake my head. She did all the work.

I can't sign. My arm is dead. It pulses, and blood seeps my filthy shirt.

She kisses my cheek, _"We'll get out of here as soon as it's dark, and then we'll find a road and get out of here. Then we'll get you to a hospital, okay? You're going to be fine." _She looks worried, and I am flattered, both by the kiss and the look.

Kagome and I have never kissed.

There's a softening of the light, the suggestion of sunset, and her face is even more beautiful than ever before.

I scoot closer to her. Closer, closer, each movement creating jarring pain in my bloodied arm, but soon I am close to her.

She looks into my eyes, and her face keeps getting closer and closer and…

Suddenly her lips are against mine. Her soft, perfect, never-been-kissed lips lock with mine and we're both blown away.

I mean, who expects to have their first kiss when they're trapped in a gross muddy well with a bullet in your arm and blood everywhere? Certainly not me. But somehow, the perfection of the kiss is not at all affected.

It's still lovely.

We keepkissing for a long time.


	20. Miserable Delirium

Hello! -waves-

I have returned, and this time with a good excuse as to why I have been a month since I updated.

I went to Europe! Yay Europe!

So, I have my new chapter out, with an update for a Robin Hood fic, and also the first chapter of Caged Beasts, the fic that shall follow this one when it's done. Sadly there are only two chapters left!

The first chapter of Caged Beasts'll be at the bottom of this page. Just as a tester.

Enjoy, or as the French say, Enjoy-ez vous!

(They don't really say that, it just sounds funny. I have a tendancy to add an -ez vous after I order someone to do something, such as go-ez vous or have-my-children-ez vous.)

* * *

It grows dark. I am filthy and covered with blood and I think I am beginning to hallucinate. That or gnomes are dancing around the walls of the well. 

The mud is getting to me too. It's cold, more water than dirt, and has soaked my filthy clothes, ruining them for good. They were expensive too. If I get out of this alive, I swear I'm going to have a huge bill from the cleaners.

Kagome sits with her back against the wall of the well, her eyes intent on the sky above, which has turned form a crystal blue to a soft pink to a velvety purple, stars twinkling like light pouring through tiny holes in a canvas when you hold it up to the sky. The rim of her dress is ripped, she tore it to fashion a makeshift bandage for my throbbing arm. This has been a bad year for me: I have never experienced such pain as I have this year. First the operation, then the hammer, or whatever Naraku smashed into my skull, then a goddam bullet.

The gnomes are dancing closer and closer. It seems they all resemble the strange creatures Kaede uses to decorate her garden, little elves with red pointy hats, cheery clothes, wheelbarrows or fishing poles in their chubby little porcelain hands. However, the delirium-gnomes wield their otherwise-domestic objects as weapons, and their supposedly-merry eyes have an evil glint to them. I'm getting worried. I squeeze my eyes shut against them and let the mind-splintering pain in my arm dull the certain insanity.

Kagome shakes me after a time, _"We should go now."_ she signs in the dim light of the quarter moon. _" Do you think you can stand?"_ Concern is in her pretty brown eyes as she takes my unharmed arm and slowly pulls me to my feet. The world spins beneath me like I've just gotten of the merry-go-round from hell. The gnomes dance faster.

I can't sign anymore. My arm is dead. I am, however, able to sign simple things like yes, no, and other things that only need my left arm. The rest, I'm sad to think, is left to the drudgery of fingerspelling. I stagger behind Kagome as she starts tugging on various vines, pulling herself towards the sky.

I try, I really do, but my left hand slips from the vines and I fall back on my wounded arm, causing waves of intolerable pain to rush through my body. I think I must have called out or made a noise, because as soon as the pain abates enough for me to be aware of my surroundings, Kagome is beside me, looking distraught.

_"I'm so sorry"_ she sings, _"Are you alright?" _

I nod, gritting my teeth and clutching the bloodstained bandage. _"I-l-l b-e f-i-n-e,"_ I fingerspell with an effort.

_"I can't leave you… I'll stay here and…" _

I shake my head no._"Y-o-u h-a-v-e t-o g-o t-o t-h-e p-o-l-i-c-e. I c-a-n m-a-n-a-g-e s-p-e-n-d-i-n-g t-h-e- n-i-g-h-t h-e-r-e- i-f y-o-u c-a-n m-a-n-a-g-e g-e-t-t-i-n-g h-e-l-p b-y y-o-u-r-s-e-l-f." _

_"But…" _

_"I-l-l b-e f-i-n-e." _

_"I…" _She breaks off, tears in her eyes, _"I'll worry about you." _

I, lying on the muddy ground, feel a secret smile cross my features, and before I can stop myself or think better of it, I pull her into a kiss, feeling her soft pink lips on mine and melting away my fear and pain with the soft warmth that fills the pit of my stomach whenever I'm near her. We break apart too soon, but when we do she seems more resolute than ever.

_"D-o-n-t b-e a-f-r-a-id." _I fingerspell, looking deep into her eyes.

_"I won't be." _She gets up, _"I love you" _

_"I d-o t-o-o." _

She slowly gets up, waves goodbye, and climbs up the vines, looking back often. I feel her feet touch the ground ten feet up and slow, hesitant footfalls that turn into swift steps.

The vibrations disappear. I am alone.

In a dark muddy well.

With no one nearby.

And a bullet in my arm.

And if anyone happened to be nearby, no one would hear me if I called out because I have underdeveloped vocal cords.

And my one savior just left, my be caught by her murderous kidnappers, and I've fallen head over heels in love with her.

And, to top that all off, I have a troupe of evil dancing gnomes dancing closer and closer with malicious glints in their glowing red eyes.

I gingerly pull myself into a sitting position against the wall where Kagome was for most of the day and think dark thoughts. My life sucks. My father's fortune will be spent entirely on therapy for me when I get older.

As night comes over me alone, the already freezing mud grows colder and colder. I think I'm getting weaker, because every time I open my eyes I notice the gnomes doing a new variation of tribal dance against an imaginary campfire. I shiver and curl into a ball in the rapidly shrinking pocket of warmth where Kagome was.

The tribe of evil gnomes begins to sing a rather threatening song to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

"Killing, Killing, so much fun,  
Life of deaf boy soon be done,

Chopping, slicing cut him up,

Throw him in the boiling pot,

Killing, Killing, so much fun,

Inuyasha, yum, yum, yum."

Okay, at least I know it's a hallucination. If they were real I wouldn't hear them, and even if I could I wouldn't understand the syllables, but creepily enough I get **exactly**what the creepy lawn decorations are singing. And I don't like it, not one little bit.

I clutch my wounded arm and fall to my side in the mud. I don't want to see gnomes that don't exist but still want to kill me and eat me, I don't want to be cold, wet, frightened and covered in blood, and I certainly don't want to be alone.

There's nothing to do but wait for help to come, but there's a possibility help might never come, which frightens me. I decide not to think about it.

Suddenly, I feel overwhelmingly tired. So very, very tired. My head has been throbbing for a few hours at least, but I always had managed to somehow ignore it. Push it into the back of my frazzled mind… but now all of a sudden the headache has turned into an urge to fall into a deep sleep.

It sounds appealing to me. I doubt I have slept properly for more than 24 hours. I certainly have a right to be exhausted… but what if I fall asleep and never wake up again? I don't want to die here, of all places. No, I've figured that all out. I want to die in my own bed, in seventy, no, eighty years of a heart attack or stroke while I sleep…yes. That's how Inuyasha Taisho is going to die, not before I'm even twenty in a dirty puddle of mud and my own blood.

The cannibalistic gnomes are laughing at my plight. Some of them have changed from their kitschy monocolor vests and britches into Cancan dresses. Yes. The gnomes are doing the cancan, bearing their hairy legs, bedecked in frilly pink bloomers.

I'm truly going crazy.

I close my eyes and decide sleep is the best option. Who cares about the danger? I am completely sick of stupid idiotic delusions freaking me out.

I close my eyes and try to relax. It's not easy.

I'm just beginning to sleep when I think I feel vibrations outside the well…

But I'm probably dreaming anyways.


	21. Scoring, and, of Course, Death

Hello all. How are you? Good? Good.

Well, I've been very busy, (hahahahahaha right. As busy as sitting on one's butt can be.)

So. Here's my penultimate chapter.

…

Oh no.

Penultimate chapter… only one left to go….

Aww, man.

Now I'm all sad, and my I-finally-updated-high is ruined. Thanks a lot, jerks.

* * *

I'm barely aware of anything. Minutes, hours, or days may have passed…. I'm floating on whiteness, dizzy and sick and tired. Sometimes I think I hear voices when I sleep, but I wouldn't bet on it, they're all so faint and unintelligible.

The first thing I'm aware of as I begin to regain consciousness is that I am warm. It takes me a while to understand why this is good… it means I'm not in a well and sleeping in cold mud. This could mean Kagome found help, but, after thinking about it for a while, I realize it might mean I'm in Naraku's hands again. My eyelids are heavy, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to open them. I decide to wait a while and see if it's easier then.

My brain begins to un-fog. I begin to notice other things as well, the smells of the place I am in, the feel of crisp bed-sheets against my pajamas, a hot, uncomfortable stiffness around my arm.

I take this to mean that I am somewhere safe. Something inside of me relaxes, and I almost fall asleep again, except just as I'm drifting off, I feel the steps of someone else's feet in my room.

I find that my eyes are much easier to open now, so I do, squinting at the bright light. The person swims in and out of focus, but seems familiar. Dark hair, tied up behind her head, sophisticated clothes, rectangular glasses with thick dark brown rims. Sango?

I turn my head, still marveling at how unpleasantly bright the world is. She smiles maternally at me.

"_You're awake." _She signs slowly, close to my face.

I grunt, not hearing it of course, but understanding the vibrations will make a noise in the affirmative.

"_I'm glad. How do you feel?"_

I grunt again, hoping my meaning to be understood as, 'Crap, how else should I feel?'

She smiles, _"I'll go get your parents."_

I force out a half-grin and close my eyes as she fades out of focus. Just a little nap… then I'll deal with all the visitors.

* * *

When I wake again, I am much stronger. It also occurs to me that more time has passed. So much for a little nap.

I blearily open my eyes, lifting my healthy arm to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

I blink.

I am in a hospital room, tiles on the floor, a small table at my left and a large armchair on my right. I'm attached to a drip-thing, with a bag of blood at the top, a grisly red tube snaking down and biting my wrist. The ceiling is that cardboard kind that you find in public schools and office buildings, and the lights are the yellow florescent ones that make your skin look pallid and half dead. Not very flattering.

I yawn, and sit up a little, feeling my back rub against the cheap fabric of the hospital pajamas and the clean cotton sheets.

So, I'm safe.

This is nice.

I wonder about Kagome then, assuming she's alright based on the fact that I'm safe and unharmed. I hope she's fine and happy somewhere.

I think about her then, her deep, almond shaped eyes, her soft lips the shape and color of the little rosebuds Mother likes delivered to her hotel room whenever she goes out of country. Her soft dark hair that smells good even after days of not washing, her pale skin clear and rosy, her happy smile, her exuberant nature, her wide-eyed look of excitement.

I hope she comes and visits me.

A nurse waddles in, a pear-shaped woman with dark eyes and a huge grin when she sees I'm awake. She says something, I have no idea what, and I give her a puzzled look, hoping she'll get the hint.

She consults a piece of paper and gives me a huge, toothy smile when she recognizes her mistake. I am thrilled to realize that she signs a few words, not fluently, but enough for me to understand.

"_Hello,"_ she signs, waving, _"I… name… M-i-k-o-t-o." _

I smile, showing that I understand. She returns the gesture. I decide I like Mikoto, she seems comfortable and sweet, and she makes the effort to sign what little she knows. She hands me a cup full of water and a few pills, miming that I should take them and then drink the water.

I put three different colored pills on my tongue and swallow. It's somehow satisfying to swallow pills, I have no idea why. I feel like this way I'm getting a step closer to feeling better, even though I don't feel particularly crap right now, just a sort of numbness in my upper arm. I suspect I have been given painkillers or something like it.

"_How long have I been asleep?" _I ask, signing the words very slowly and clearly.

She gives me a puzzled look. Ah well, I suppose I was pushing my luck.

I point with my good arm to a writing pad she has in her pocket. She takes it out of her pocket and puts it on a little tray that she pulls up to the bed.

"**How long have I been asleep?" **I scrawl with a bic she lends me.

She leans over me to read it. She smells like old people and hospital. **"About two and a half days. You lost a lot of blood, so it's a very good sign you woke up when you did." **Her handwriting is loopy and swirly and slightly hard to read.

"**How is Kagome?"** I ask, trying to make my writing more legible.

"**I don't know who that is, sweetie. I have to go and finish my rounds now, but you can watch TV or read until the meds kick in. You should probably sleep. It's twenty to three in the morning."**

I nod, slightly disappointed. **"I'm hungry." **I write quickly before she goes away again.

She nods. **"I'll bring you something."** She smiles at me and slowly walks out of the room.

I relax a little bit and reach for the remote. I press the SAP button and get captions on, the begin flipping the channels.

There's one of those crappy late-night talk shows on, and I drum my fingers against the tray in vague frustration at the lack of interesting things on.

I change the channel after a while, bored with watching a man I don't know talk to some celebrity I don't know, to an infomercial about a brand new exercise machine that will apparently make really fat ugly people into extremely attractive, buff-and-tan bodybuilders with models fawning over them. I roll my eyes. Not likely.

I yawn and change the channel again.

Whoa.

There are naked women with big boobs doing naughty things on this channel.

I didn't know they had porn on hospital TV sets…

Interesting. I didn't know women could comfortably cook bacon without any clothes on.

I turn the boob-tube off with a flourish, and settle back into the pillows, tiredness enveloping me like a soft warm blanket.

Mmm. I'll eat in the morning.

* * *

I am woken by the scent of my mother and father. Yawning, I open my eyes, and as I do, Mother practically jumps on top of me, sending a jolt of pain through my otherwise-innocuous arm.

I grit my teeth, but hug her back. When she pulls back, I smile at her.

"_Hello, Mother."_ I sign with my right arm. Luckily those signs can be managed without the use of my other one.

She kisses both of my cheeks in response. She then begins to sign what seems to be a practiced tale, with real signs. _"We…so worries. You, Kagome, disappear. You lost. Kidnap. Hear you get back money need. Then hospital you, Kagome at. Happy, worry. Glad you wakeful today morning." _

Ah well. At least she tried. I smile encouragingly. This is much better than fingerspelling everything out.

We improvise for a few minutes, me fingerspelling, mother fingerspelling, and father miming. I particularly enjoyed his rendition of the ransom. It was like playing some bizarre version of charades, but with a paraplegic.

Then they had to go to work, so they left me with a few hundred-dollar bills and a new playstation, which they kindly plug into the TV and insert **"Mega Kill-Death IV, Extermination."**

Senseless violence party time!

I am just at level three of the gut-spraying, blood-spurting, brain-bashing fun when breakfast comes. Pausing the game, I am horrified to realize that there is more carnage on the plate than on the video game: the food is prepared that badly.

I do manage to choke it down, but it takes major effort and skill to force my teeth to chew the slimy, rubbery sausages, the wet, greasy, watery yellow scrambled eggs, and the cardboard 'flapjacks.' Suppressing the instinct to vomit, I gulp at the chalky orange juice and lean back on the pillows, feeling sick but less hungry.

I silently make a promise in my head never to have to eat this crap ever again.

I go back to my carnage fest, happily, beating a few levels until I reach the SUPER SECRET LAIR where I can select from the best weapons to kill even more pretend people, except with artillery that the government hasn't even invented yet. My video-guy picks out a combination bazooka/flamethrower/grenade launcher and together we shoot, incinerate, explode, and, if all that fails, we karate-chop him to the death. HA.

Adrenalin rocks.

A knock on the door stops the blood-soaked goodness, and I put down the console as Miroku walks into the room.

"_Hey." _He signs, grinning.

"_Hi."_ I reply. I want to ask him how the rest of the holiday passed without me, whether they've caught Naraku, what Kagome's doing, and a billion other questions all at once, but I internally curse my left arm and just smile like an idiot.

"_How are you feeling?"_ he asks after a short pause, _"You look pale."_

I do a sort of half-shrug and reach for the notepad, **"I feel alright. I have been better, of course, but I could be a lot worse."**

He smiles, _"I'm glad."_

I pause, and after a while I tentatively reach for the pen, **"Where's Kagome? Is she alright?"**

He grins, _"She's great. Never been better."_

I sigh in relief, **"That's good. I was worried."**

Miroku's eyebrows raise as he holds the pad, reading what I scrawled on the notebook. When he puts the notebook down, he has a knowing (and very irritating) smile on his face. _"I can see that you, my friend, that you have developed somewhat of a schoolboy crush on our mutual acquaintance, Kagome." _

No, duh.

I grin, and shyly nod.

"_Sweet."_ Miroku signs, a very frustrating expression gracing his features, that of smug aloofness and condescending knowledge of my situation.

I grab the notepad, **"Obviously, you have no idea about what you're talking about, as you have yet to win Sango over, so come back to me with your 'schoolboy crushes' when you've scored."** I reach for the pad again, wanting to write down some more choice words that might wipe that look off his countenance, but he begins signing again, and I am forced to watch.

"_I'm sure she'll want to tell you the exciting details of her odyssey in search of help for you herself, but I thought you might want to know Kagome spoke, for the first time in three years, two nights ago when she was looking for help."_ He smiles again, this time he is not patronizing or arrogant, but happy for me._ "She obviously cares for you a great deal."_

She spoke?

Kagome? But I thought she couldn't? I thought she was mute because of the damage to her vocal cords? I thought it hurt her to talk.

Kagome… she did that for me?

Miroku continues, _"I think she's visiting you tomorrow, so if I were you I would take a shower."_

I suddenly am aware of the greasiness of my hair.

"_Oh, and Inuyasha?"_ Miroku signs as he gets up and starts to walk out of my room, _"Who's to say I haven't won Sango over, eh? Certainly not me."_

And, with another extremely irritating smirk, he leaves me to my thoughts. Jerk.


	22. The Sound of Her Voice

insert apology for not updating here

Here she is. My baby. The last chapter.

-sob-

This story, such a part of my life for so long, has finally come to an end. No more guilt over not updating, no more rush of emails flowing into my inbox right after, no more.

This is really sad.

Enjoy!

Oh no! That will be the last timeI ever bid people to enjoy this fic! -sniffle-

* * *

But I hope you like it. I had a good time crafting the last chapter of The Sound of her Voice, as I was looking forward to the conclusion for some time now.

I take my shower. It feels delicious to have warm water running over me, cleaning off all the crap. I think it's probably a psychological thing too… in that as I wash the dirt away, I wash the fear away too.

The nurses change my bandages so I can move a little more freely. That means (huzzah) that I can move my arms enough to sign. It's very nice.

So now it's just waiting.

Waiting and waiting and waiting for Kagome to visit.

Waiting in my small hospital room that has nothing to do in it.

Waiting,

Waiting,

Waiting…

After the clock tells me I have waited fifteen minutes (and there's something wrong with it… time doesn't run **that** slow) I feel like listing each and every swear I know and running away.

But I decide to do something a little more productive…

Which, I've decided, is changing out of this vile, uncomfortable hospital-dress-thing and into some decent clothes.

There's a little drawer full of new clothes that my parents brought. I pick out the nicest of all of them and venture slowly into the miniscule bathroom adjacent to my room and put on a red shirt and a pair of jeans. It takes longer than it should to get the shirt on, because I have to thread the tube that goes to the drip through my sleeve.

I'm slightly tired from this little adventure, and I hobble over to the bed. There, on the table besides my bed, something catches my eye.

It's the same color, roughly, as my skin, made of plastic. A cord snakes from the transmitter, with its box that fits to well behind my ear, to the microphone, which magnetically attaches to my head.

I grin. My parents must have had my implant fixed while I slept.

It's bizarre, the effect the tiny machine has had on my life. I dream in sound, and though I still can't speak or understand words, I can distinguish some things, and I feel a lot more normal.

And I met her because of it.

I sigh happily and reach for it, and carefully replace it on my head. As always, the change is immediate. The slight crackle of noise that is constantly there, the sound of the machines running, the footfalls of the nurse walking down the hall.

But other than that, it's pretty quiet.

I open a book. I don't really know what it's about, but the cover seems interesting anyways. It's a crime novel, about a blunt, intelligent, middle aged detective, who meets a sexy police officer. It's obvious by reading the first page that they're going to have sex by the end.

"**Veronica's green eyes followed the movements of the man in the chair. Reynolds squirmed under her intense gaze.**

"**Where have you hidden those kids, you bastard?" she demanded, stepping on his toes as she paced. I noticed her long auburn curls brushing against her full breasts. Reynolds noticed it too. I slapped him in the face, just for looking."**

There's movement in the hall. Startled, I look up.

It's her.

She's wearing a white dress that ends above her knees, with a green sash around her middle. Her eyes are wide and excited, and as I put the book down she runs up to hug me.

As she pulls away from the embrace, I tug her back towards me and kiss her, my tongue entering her mouth and exploring her tongue, her teeth, the crevices on the top of her palate. She tastes slightly bitter, but sweet at the same time, like the way my mouth tastes, only softer and prettier.

We break apart, and she smiles a huge grin, showing her pearly teeth. Her eyes are slightly unfocused, and I kiss her again, only on the lips, as she sits up on the hospital bed.

"_How are you? Are you alright?" _she signs, _"I was going to ask you as soon as I got here, but I got… sidetracked."_ she looks at my bandaged arm and the drip, _"You poor thing. I'm so sorry."_

I laugh. _"I'm fine. Don't worry."_

She smiles at me, a genuine smile that radiates all of her warmth and compassion and inner strength.

"_Kagome, Kagome!"_ I sign excitedly, _"Miroku told me-"_

"_He told you already?" _she signs, _"That's a disappointment. I wanted to show you myself."_

"_Will you?" _I ask, hesitantly.

She nods. _"What do you want me to say?"_

I shrug. I don't mind. The idea of listening to the sound of her voice sends shivers of anticipation and excitement down my spine. _"Say… your name?"_

Her face is confused, _"You haven't heard it?"_

"_I couldn't recognize it." _I reply. I most likely have heard her name somehow, in the conversation that fills my hearing days now, but never on its own. Her name has never been pronounced to me, and I've never learned it from overuse, like the way I learned my own name. Ee-noo-yah-sha became Inuyasha, over time, just as Heh-low became hello and the handful of words I've learned with Sango in vocal therapy.

"_Okay,"_ she signs, looking a little nervous. She gazes into my eyes with her deep brown ones, and opens her pink mouth.

"Kagome" she says. Her voice is whispery and uneven, and it's obvious that talking causes her some discomfort. But the syllables and sounds she makes with her soft mouth, with her cherry colored tongue, are the most beautiful sounds I've heard yet.

I grab her wrists and pull her into a hug. She laughs a little, and cuddles into my chest, grasping the fabric of my tee-shirt in her white, slim fingers. I hold her like that for a while, then she tilts her dark haired head forward and kisses me.

Her soft tongue pushes at my lips, and I open mine and let her explore the caverns of my mouth. She is insistent, but gentle, and our tongues embrace each other. Her lips are softer than I could have imagined, and she moves her hands from around my shoulders to caress my hair and my ears.

When we stop kissing (boo) we lean back on the hospital bed.

"_That was much nicer than the other night." _I tell her, smiling.

"_Your experience was marred by the bullet in your arm." _she replies, _"I would have liked it much more if you weren't flitting towards unconsciousness as we did it."_

We both laugh, and I kiss her soft lips again, only for a moment. She leans in for more, but I stop her when my hands start moving.

"_Kagome…"_ I sign, thinking as I make the actions, _"I thought your vocal cords were permanently damaged."_

"_They were." _she replies, _"You heard my voice. It sounds terrible."_

"_It doesn't" _I sign, _"I love the sound of your voice."_

" _It used to hurt a lot when I talked, so I learned to sign._" she continues, ignoring my previous comment, _"Once I started sign language, I realized I liked signing much more than I liked speaking. But my mother still made me go to vocal training and therapy once a week. It stopped hurting so much, but by then I didn't want to talk to people. I was more of a voluntary mute."_

"_And now you're talking again."_ I finish her story, gazing into her deep eyes.

"_Because of you. Because I was worried about you and none of the policemen could understand. I---" _She breaks off.

"_Kagome?"_ I ask.

"_Yes?"_

"_Will you say something for me again?"_

"_What?"_

"_Anything."_

"_Okay."_ She pauses for a moment, thinking, "Eye luv yoo."Her eyes are mischievous as she looks up at me.

"_What does that mean?"_ I ask, beaming at her in my auditory innocence.

"_It means I hate you and I wish you were dead and I want to kill your family, your dog, your goldfish, and your gerbil."_

"_That's a lot of words for so few sounds."_

"_It's an anomaly."_

"_You're a liar!"_ I sign, laughing, tickling her with my good arm.

"_Fine!"_ she throws her hands up in the air in defeat, then hastens them down to make the next word, _"Do you really want to know what it means?"_

"_Yes."_

She makes a fist, then forms the phrase, concentrating on raising her pinky and her pointer finger, and making her thumb stick out perpendicular, _"It means 'I love you'"_

"_Say it again!"_ I say eagerly, watching her mouth and turning up the volume on my implant as high as it can go.

"Eye luv yoo."

"_Again!"_

"I love you."

"_Again!"_

"I love you, Inuyasha!" she says in her quiet, hoarse voice, her eyes glittering at me like shooting stars.

"_I love you too." _I sign, and I pull her into an embrace, knocking my implant to the floor in the rush.

I let it lie there on the floor as I kiss Kagome and hold her in my arms, enjoying the silence.

* * *

_**End.**

* * *

_

Oh! It's over, it's over! I'm really close to tears now, despite how many hairs I've lost due to writers block on the damn thing.

I want to thank all of you, each and every one of you who reviewed and offered feedback and support. Even those of you who didn't review, thank you for reading! This has been something I can fall back on when I'm feeling bad, because I know that a lot of people liked this fic!

I love you all.

No really, I do.

Really.

Love and Hugs (forever!)

Sugarsprite


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